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k     ■ 


BACCALAUREATE  DISCOURSE, 


DELIVERED  JULY  16,  BEFORE 


THE    CLASS    OF    1865, 


BY   SAMUEL   W.   FISHER, 

PRESIDENT  OF  HAMILTON  COLLEGE.   . 


0F  !LUN0IS 


UTICA,  K  Y. 

D.  P.  WHITE,  PRINTER,  171  GENESEE  STREET,  UTICA. 

1866. 


William  Curtis  Noyes,  LL.  D.,  died  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
December  25,  1864.  He  bequeathed  his  Law  Library,  consisting  of 
over  5,000  volumes,  to  Hamilton  College,  of  which  he  was  an  honor- 
ary Alumnus.  The  President,  in  his  Annual  Discourse  before  the 
Graduating  Class,  commemorated  his  virtues,  and  dwelt  upon  his 
character  and  life.  By  request  of  the  Trustees,  this  Discourse  is 
now  printed.  In  the  Appendix  will  be  found  portions  of  several  ad- 
dresses called  forth  by  his  death,  together  with  the  arrangements  for 
the  use  of  the  Library  by  the  Bar. 


DISCOURSE. 


In  thy  light  shall  we  sec  light. — Psalm  xxxvi.  9. 

One  of  the  chief  uses  of  light  is  to  reveal  the  material 
world.  A  world  in  darkness  is  a  world  comparatively 
unknown.  All  its  forms  of  beauty  and  sublimity,  its 
varied  landscapes,  its  lakes  and  mountains  and  rivers,  its 
myriad  exhibitions  of  skill  to  the  eye,  are  hidden  from 
us.  Mght  conceals ;  the  orb  of  day  reveals  all  nature 
in  its  loveliness  and  glory. 

But  besides  this,  light  has  also  a  vital  power.  It 
quickens  the  dormant  life  into  action.  In  proportion  as 
the  rays  of  the  sun — the  great  source  of  light — Ml 
directly  upon  the  earth,  vegetation  is  excited.  It  gives 
warmth  and  color  to  all  objects  susceptible  of  its  in- 
fluence. Healthy  vegetation  needs  the  light,  and  even 
animals  are  directly  affected  by  it.  The  approach  of 
the  sun  to  our  northern  clime  unbinds  the  chains  of 
frost,  quickens  the  latent  seed,  and  covers  the  land  with 
verdure. 

Light,  being  thus  wonderful  in  its  influence,  is  used 
as  a  symbol,  by  the  sacred  writers,  of  various  things, 
but  especially,  as  in  the  text,  of  truth,  and  the  influence 
that  makes  it  effective  in  the  soul.  The  light  is  both  the 
truth  that  God  reveals  and  the  quickening  influence  He 


imparts  to  make  it  productive  in  the  heart.  The  world 
is  full  of  truth.  But  man,  perverted  and  blinded  by  the 
force  of  evil  affections,  never  rises  to  the  full  compre- 
hension of  its  highest  relations,  and  never  suffers  it  to 
exert  its  appropriate  influence  until  he  is  brought  to 
understand  the  higher  revelation  of  God  in  His  word, 
and  is  quickened  by  the  Divine  Spirit  to  admit  that 
revelation  into  his  heart.  Then  the  truths  which  are  all 
round  him  assume  new  aspects ;  the  errors  which  have 
impaired  their  force  fall  awTay;  the  influences  that  have 
distorted  them  or  blinded  him  to  their  real  meaning  are 
removed.  He  reaches  a  position  where  reason,  revela- 
tion and  nature  are  all  in  harmony ;  and  God  as  the 
source  of  all  is  seen  in  the  wisdom  and  loveliness  of  His 
infinite  excellence. 

That  there  are  impediments  and  difficulties  in  the 
attainment  of  truth,  is  a  fact  recognized  by  the  ablest 
philosophers.  Descartes,  the  founder  of  the  ideal 
philosophy,  denied  everything  but  his  own  existence,  in 
order  to  place  himself  in  a  position  to  reason  out  the 
truth,  free  from  the  prejudices  and  errors  of  the  past. 
Bacon,  his  great  cotemporary,  the  founder  of  the  in- 
ductive philosophy,  with  the  same  object  in  view,  has 
given  a  list  of  "  Idols,"  which  stand  in  the  way  of  our 
advancement.  The  various  systems  of  logic  are  in  part 
designed  to  meet  the  same  difficulty.  But  all  these 
methods  failed  in  one,  and  that  a  vital  point :  they  were 
unable  to  regulate  the  subtle  influence  of  the  affections 
upon  the  intellect ;  and  if  they  could  have  effected  this, 
they  could  not  have  brought  down  to  man  those  higher 
truths,  without  which,  in  his  fallen  state,  he  must  ever 
remain  in  utter  darkness  respecting  his  future. 


Now  these  two  things,  which  all  past  systems  of 
philosophy  failed  to  effect,  Christianity  professes  to 
accomplish.  It  not  only  renders  accessible  truths  essen- 
tial to  our  highest  well  being,  which  reason  could  not 
discover ;  but  it  accompanies  them  with  an  influence  that 
makes  them  operative  powers  in  the  soul ;  and  in  doing 
this  it  sheds  new  light  on  nature  and  the  constitution  of 
man;  so  that  it  becomes  a  grand  fact,  that  in  the  light  of 
God  the  christian  believer  sees  light. 

It  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  show  you  how  Christian- 
ity strengthens  and  elevates  the  minds  of  all  who  truly 
receive  it ;  to  illustrate  the  manner  in  which  the  "  en- 
trance of  Divine  truth  gives  light"  to  the  feeblest  intel- 
lect, quickens  the  minds,  and  clarifies  the  vision  of  those 
whose  pursuits  prevent  any  large  acquisition  of  earthly 
science,  and  imparts  noble  thoughts  and  pure  affections 
to  the  ignorant  and  the  lowly. 

But  instead  of  expatiating  over  this  wide  field,  I  pro- 
pose to  dwell  chiefly  on  the  influence  of  Christianity  as 
a  power  to  enlighten,  ennoble  and  strengthen  educated 
mind.  It  is  sometimes  thought,  if  not  affirmed,  that 
men,  devoted  to  intellectual  pursuits,  do  not  need  to  the 
same  extent,  the  peculiar  influences  of  Christianity. 
But  they  are  all  fallen,  fallible  and  frail.  They  are  ex« 
posed  to  peculiar  temptations  to  error  and  sin,  from  their 
positions  and  pursuits.  I  know  of  no  class  of  men  who 
stand  in  greater  need  of  the  pilotage  of  a  true  Christian 
faith,  than  that  which,  launched  upon  the  wide  ocean  of 
human  thought,  is  exposed  to  all  the  perils  of  so  difficult 
and  fearful  a  navigation.  History  is  just  as  full  of  the 
wrecks  of  the  minds  of  the  cultivated,  as  it  is  of  the 
ignorant  and  the  superstitious;  and  Christianity  is  revealed 


as  the  light  which  is  to  guide  them  as  well  as  others  into 
the  same  harbor  of  rest. 

Christianity  concerns  itself  directly  about  the  higher 
life  of  the  soul;  but  in  doing  this,  it  affects  the  whole 
character  in  all  its  relations  to  this  earthly  state. 

At  the  outset  it  lights  up  a  few  points  in  the  grand 
panorama  of  thought,  which  at  once  define  the  system 
of  truth,  and  from  which  it  sheds  light  on  all  other  rela- 
tions and  questions  most  vital  to  humanity.  With 
settled  convictions  on  these,  we  are  at  once  elevated  into  a 
new  sphere  of  thought  and  action.  These  primary  points, 
are  the  being  and  nature  of  God ;  the  responsibility  and 
fallen  nature  of  man;  redemption  from  the  guilt  and 
power  of  sin,  by  Jesus  Christ ;  and  immortality.  These 
are  the  points  which  have  chiefly  exercised  the  profound- 
est  thinking  of  man  in  the  past;  these  are  the  points 
which,  especially  since  the  revelation  of  a  Saviour,  have 
enlisted  the  deepest  interest  of  the  thoughtful.  Begin 
where  they  may  in  the  circle  of  thought,  a  thousand 
converging  lines  lead  back  lo  these  central  truths.  The 
perplexities,  the  speculations,  the  hopes,  the  fears,  the 
most  important  interests  of  our  higher  nature,  are  all 
connected  with  these  themes.  Philosophy  outside  of 
these  is  shallow  and  insignificant  in  its  results.  Life, 
without  reference  to  these,  is  brutal  and  base  :  an  enigma 
without  a  solution,  a  point  without  extension,  a  dark  and 
worthless  materialism  without  a  solitary  ray  of  light. 

Now  let  the  man  of  matured  mind,  whose  business  it 
is  to  think  out  the  principles  which  are  to  guide  others, 
be  once  established  in  the  conviction  of  these  funda- 
mental truths  as  Christianity  unfolds  them ;  let  them  be 


enthroned  not  only  in  his  intellect,  but  in  his  heart,  so 
that  the  whole  man  shall  be  subject  to  their  vitalizing 
influence,  and  at  once  he  is  lifted  above  a  thousand  per- 
plexities and  fortified  against  a  thousand  temptations. 
He  has  reached  a  central  position,  from  which  he  views 
the  truth  in  its  just  relations  and  harmonies.  The 
partial  views,  the  cross  lights,  the  distorted  aspects  of 
things,  vanish.  God,  the  soul  of  man,  life,  are  invested 
with  a  reality,  a  preciousness,  a  grandeur  unknown  be- 
fore. For  now  in  the  light  of  God  he  sees  light.  Those 
mightiest  enemies  to  human  advancement,  Skepticism— 
which  through  the  pride  of  reason  unsettles  all  things, 
and  leaves  the  soul  with  no  solid  foothold  in  the  universe ; 
and  Superstition,  which  ignoring  reason,  dwells  in  base- 
less imaginations,  are  at  once  vanquished. 

Even  to  the  uncultivated  mind  these  truths  give  a 
peculiar  expansion.  "  The  entrance  of  thy  words 
giveth  understanding  to  the  simple."  But  on  the  culti- 
vated intellect  their  influence  is  still  more  marked. 
Gradually  it  takes  in  their  increasing  greatness  :  gradu- 
ally it  discerns  their  vital  connection  with  all  the  rela- 
tions of  life.  The  past,  the  present,  the  future  take  on  a 
new  glory.  Not  at  once,  nor  fully  here  can  the  mind  com- 
pass this  high  wisdom.  It  is  so  vast,  so  profound 
that  the  advancing  intelligence  finds  at  every  step  new 
aspects  and  relations  unsuspected  before.  The  key  that 
unlocks  the  mysteries  of  the  universe  is  in  the  hand  of 
the  student ;  and  nature  and  life  grow  brighter  under  the 
light  of  Revelation. 

History  acquires  a  new  interest.  It  was  a  mass  of 
facts,  without  symmetry,  order  or  perceived  relation  to 
any  great  plan.     Now  there  is  a  Divine  Providence  in 


it,  arranging  the  seemingly  isolated  national  developments 
so  as  to  illustrate  great  principles  in  the  government  of 
God,  and  ultimately  promote  the  triumph  of  the  scheme 
of  redemption.  All  nations,  the  barbarous  and  the 
civilized,  contribute  something  to  the  illustration  of  the 
Divine  wisdom. 

Philosophy,  so  proud,  so  pretentious,  so  grand  in 
promise,  reveals  itself  to  this  christian  student  as  utterly 
barren  and  impotent  in  achievement.  He  sees  system 
after  system  rise  and  fall  like  the  figures  in  a  puppet 
show ;  while  each  philosopher  imagines  that  lie  has 
grasped  the  lever  which  is  to  move  the  world.  He  be- 
holds the  unaided  reason  struggling  to  resolve  the 
mysteries  of  life,  and  in  the  end  falling  back  baffled  and 
utterly  defeated.  Meanwhile  the  philosophy  of  the 
Bible — the  philosophy  of  the  Cross,  with  its  sublime 
conceptions  and  wonderful  unfoldings  of  truth,  moves 
down  the  ages  with  ever  increasing  lustre  from  the  re- 
flected glory  of  its  superhuman  achievements.  This 
alone  never  grows  old :  it  works  with  the  same  youthful 
vigor  to  renovate  and  enlighten  as  when  first  proclaimed 
by  Divine  lips  on  the  hills  of  Judea.  All  else  serve 
only  to  illustrate  the  impotence  of  man,  when,  relying 
on  himself  alone,  he  attempts  to  fathom  the  depths  of 
infinite  wisdom. 

Civil  law,  which  he  has  studied  as  a  merely  human 
product  in  digests,  and  pandects,  and  codes,  and  judicial 
decisions,  confused,  contradictory,  bewildering  in  their 
labyrinthian  mazes,  stands  forth  symmetrical  and  clear 
in  the  peculiar  light  which  this  volume  sheds  upon  it. 
Whatever  it  has  of  real  worth,  of  universal  application, 
is  due  to  the  Revelation  which  God  gave  for  the  guid- 


9 

ance  of  humanity  in  all  its  multiform  aspects  and 
necessities.  Whatever  it  has  of  defect,  whatever  is 
partial  in  it,  whatever  time  brands  as  false  in  its  decrees, 
is  due  to  the  imperfections  and  ignorance  of  man  him- 
self. 

When,  as  a  citizen,  he  is  called  to  investigate  the 
nature  and  functions  of  government ;  or  as  a  statesman 
he  is  in  a  position  to  frame  the  laws  which  are  to  affect 
national  interests,  he  finds  here  the  only  conditions  on 
which  national  development  can  proceed  harmoniously, 
and  the  people  rise  to  intelligence  and  true  prosperity. 
Here  are  the  laws  of  freedom  and  righteousness,  in  har- 
mony with  which  a  nation  becomes  truly  great :  here  is 
the  doctrine  of  a  Providence  that  rewards  or  punishes 
nations.  And  thus,  in  whatever  direction  he  carries  his 
investigations,  Christianity  sheds  new  light  upon  his 
path;  and  his  intellect  moves  with  increased  vigor  and 
confidence  to  conclusions  which  the  highest  authority 
has  confirmed. 

This  belief  in  and  study  of  the  great  truths  of  Christ- 
ianity produce  another  remarkable  effect.  They  impart 
a  peculiar  breadth  and  catholicity  fo  the  mind,  and  lift 
it  above  the  narrow  range  of  professional  life.  The 
occupation  of  the  mind  with  one  class  of  objects,  usually 
intensifies  the  action  of  the  intellect  in  that  direction, 
and,  within  a  limited  sphere,  produces  great  results. 
The  vision  becomes  microscopic ;  it  discerns  differences 
and  analogies  that  arc  hidden  from  others.  But  the 
usual  effect  of  such  protracted  intellectual  concentration 
is  to  narrow  the  range  of  thought,  to  crowd  all  the 
effective  thinking  into  one  channel,  to  give  to  one  or  a 
few  ideas  the   supremacy,  and  dwarf  the  mind  within 


10 

their  limitations.  The  relations  of  his  work  to  other 
things,  the  harmonies  of  the  great  system  which  embraces 
all  things  are  unknown  to  a  mere  professional  thinker. 
As  well  expect  a  man  whose  strength  is  spent  in  sharp- 
ening needles,  to  be  a  great  engineer,  as  expect  one 
whose  mental  operations  are  controlled  by  and  made 
conformable  to  the  limited  sphere  of  professional  labor, 
to  rise  to  broad  generalizations  and  great  conceptions  of 
man,  nature,  and  God.  If  you  look  at  the  Law,  which 
embraces  a  wider  range  of  principles  than  the  other  pro- 
fessions, with  the  exception  of  Theology,  you  will  find 
that  the  practitioner  spends  the  force  of  his  intellect  in 
the  study  of  individual  cases,  in  magnifying  differences, 
or  in  seeking  to  adjust  fallible  precedents  to  the  exi- 
gencies of  an  isolated  subject.  His  mind,  within  the 
shell  he  has  hardened  around  it,  may  work  with  aston- 
ishing energy,  but  he  suffers  an  inevitable  loss  of  breadth 
and  expansion,  such  as  a  higher  class  of  studies  would 
effect.  The  same  is  true  of  the  physician,  absorbed  in 
the  study  of  the  pathology  of  the  human  system;  of 
the  rhetorician,  busy  with  the  forms  and  methods  of 
expression ;  of  the  naturalist,  intent  only  on  classifying 
material  facts  or  analyzing  material  forces.  Even  such 
imperial  minds  as  those  of  Humbolt  and  Compte,  and 
Buckle,  by  their  utter  failure  to  rise  into  the  sphere  of 
the  spiritual,  in  spite  of  their  splendid  generalization 
and  vast  learning,  show  themselves  blind  to  the  grandest 
conceptions  of  life. 

But  when  a  mind  of  ripe  culture  and  large  powers 
enters  the  temple  of  Christian  science,  a  vast  scene  opens 
upon  it.  Sublime  in  its  grandeur,  it  is  perfect  in  its 
minutest  parts.  As  in  some  cathedral  of  lofty  and  har- 
monious proportions  and  splendid  adornments,  the  mind 


11 

is  at  once  lifted  above  the  narrow  range  of  architectural 
thought  in  which  it  had  moved ;  so  when  a  man  takes 
into  his  intellect  the  scheme  of  Christianity,  all  other 
knowledge  dwindles  into  insignificance.  He  is  placed 
at  a  point  of  vision,  where  Humanity,  in  the  total  history 
of  the  race,  and  God,  in  his  holy  government,  present 
themselves  in  their  wonderful  proportions.  He  feels  the 
heart  of  the  universe  throbbing  agaitist  his  own.  Truths 
flash  in  upon  him  that  ally  him  to  the  noblest  intelli- 
gences. Interests,  bounded  only  by  eternity,  possess 
him.  His  professional  life  narrows  down  to  a  unit  beside 
millions.  As  the  traveler  who  has  mingled  with  various 
nations,  is  in  a  position  to  judge  more  justly  of  his  own ; 
as  he  who  has  stood  on  mountain  tops,  crossed  oceans 
and  continents,  does  not  think  of  the  world  as  once  it 
appeared  to  him,  when  confined  to  the  little  hamlet 
where  he  was  born ;  so  the  man,  whose  feet  have  been 
planted  on  Mount  Zion,  sees  a  kingdom  of  light,  not 
ruled  by  blind  force,  but  irradiated  by  the  glory  and 
governed  by  the  living  presence  of  the  Infinite.  His 
soul,  exalted  above  the  petty  limits  of  his  profession,  is 
ennobled  by  ideas  coextensive  with  the  vastness  of  God's 
intelligent  creation. 

I  have  dwelt  thus  far  on  the  influence  of  Christianity 
in  expanding  and  invigorating  the  intellect.  But  this  is 
not  its  noblest  work.  For  truth  is  in  order  to  holiness; 
light  in  the  intellect  the  minister  to  light  in  the  heart. 
When  then  a  man  becomes  a  Christian,  he  enthrones 
these  great  principles  as  operative  powers  in  the  heart. 
They  vitalize  the  conscience ;  they  ennoble  every  pur- 
pose. He  is  imperfect,  it  is  true ;  but  prayer  is  his 
daily  resource  and  Christ  is  his  ever-present  Saviour. 
Down  deep  in  his  soul  the  work  of  transformation  pro- 


12 

ceeds;  out  in  his  life  its  precious  results  are  seen.  He 
lives  consciously  under  the  eye  of  God,  and  with  refer- 
ence to  the  issues  of  eternity.  A  love,  a  faith,  a  hope, 
pure,  joyous  and  inspiring,  give  their  character  to  his 
efforts  and  exalt  his  aims.  Now  "  in  the  light  of  God 
he  sees  light.'"' 

Coleridge  writes  of  the  Scriptures :  "In  the  Bible 
there  is  more  that  finds  me,  than  I  have  experienced  in 
all  other  books  put  together;  the  words  of  the  Bible 
find  me  at  greater  depths  of  my  being ;  whatever  finds 
me  brings  with  it  an  irresistible  evidence  of  its  having 
proceeded  from  the  Holy  Spirit."  And  this  book,  with 
its  deep,  searching  truth,  at  length  brought  peace  to  a 
mind  long  tossed  on  the  unquiet  waters  of  unbelief  and 
passion ;  and  thus  this  profound  intellect  and  noble  heart 
were  at  rest — he  had  anchored  himself  to  the  very  truth 
of  God.  To  a  mind  thus  out  on  the  sea  of  life,  it  is  an 
inexpressible  joy  to  possess  that  which  shall  give  it  true 
rest ;  to  which  it  may  turn  amid  the  anxieties  and  per- 
plexities of  public  life,  and  feel  that  while  all  things 
else  are  mutable,  this  is  ever  a  refuge  which  no  earthly 
power  can  destroy.  Here,  in  this  harbor  of  God,  the 
man  of  faith  refreshes  his  spirit  and  strengthens  his 
soul  for  the  perilous  and  difficult  scenes  that  are  before 
him. 

When  thus  the  truth  has  found  a  man ;  when  it  has 
penetrated  the  depths  of  his  spiritual  nature,  and  consti- 
tuted itself  a  living  power  in  his  soul,  then  we  anticipate, 
with  perfect  assurance,  a  pure  and  noble  life  in  the 
whole  circle  of  his  manly  activities.  I  will  not  speak  of 
his  home,  where  the  light  of  God  is  reflected  from  him 
upon  those  who  know  and  love  him  most,  and  where  all 


13 

the  gentler  and  sweeter  influences  of  his  heart  are  felt; 
but  of  that  public  life,  where  his  Christian  manhood  is 
subject  to  the  most  thorough  scrutiny  and  his  principles 
put  to  the  severest  test.  Into  this  life  he  enters  with 
the  conscientious  purpose  to  act  for  God  and  humanity. 
Whatever  is  pure,  whatever  is  noble,  whatever  tends  to 
exalt  his  fellow  men  finds  in  him  a  steady  advocate ; 
whatever  is  wrong  in  principle,  whatever  tends  to  de- 
grade or  dishonor  the  people,  finds  in  him  an  alert  and 
determined  foe.  He  measures  men  and  their  policy,  not 
by  the  Lesbian  rule  of  expediency,  but  by  the  unchang- 
ing principles  of  the  higher  lawT.  His  patriotism  is 
grounded  on  the  relations  he  sustains  to  his  country  as  a 
citizen,  out  of  which  rise  peculiar  duties  and  responsi- 
bilities. He  does  not  adopt  that  principle  of  the  shallow 
demagogue,  "  my  country  right  or  wrong."  It  is  not  for 
him  to  exalt  his  country  above  right ;  he  might  as  well 
attempt  to  exalt  her  above  his  Gocl.  But  it  is  for  him 
to  seek  to  place  his  country  in  the  right,  that  she  may  be 
worthy  of  His  blessing  whose  throne  is  established  in 
righteousness.  Neither,  on  the  other  hand  is  he  a 
factionist,  who,  setting  himself  up  in  the  place  of  the 
constituted  authorities,  refuses  obedience  to  a  law,  how- 
ever impolitic,  that  necessitates  on  his  part  no  violation 
of  the  law  of  God.  His  Christianity  teaches  him,  that 
between  these  extremes  there  is  a  line  of  action,  as  truly 
in  harmony  with  the  loftiest  patriotism  as  it  is  with 
his  obligations  as  a  Christian.  A  Christian  patriot,  he 
superadds  to  the  motives  and  views  that  impel  others  to 
sustain  the  government  and  sacrifice  even  life  for  its 
support,  the  higher  motives  and  views  which  the  Gospel 
inspires. 


14 

He  enters  into  politics,  because,  in  this  free  land, 
political  principles  and  measures  being  vitally  connected 
with  the  prosperity  of  the  State,  the  responsibility  of 
advocating  the  right  rests  specially,  though  not  ex- 
clusively, on  men  in  public  life.  He  studies  the  ques- 
tions at  issue  in  their  relations  to  the  general  welfare, 
rather  than  in  their  tendency  to  elevate  a  particular  set 
of  men  to  office.  Hence  he  is  not  a  mere  partisan,  ex- 
alting party  above  principle,  and  shaping  his  course  by 
the  prospect  it  affords  of  political  station.  He  dares  to 
avow  the  truth  and  act  up  to  it,  even  though  it  separates 
him  from  old  political  associates ;  for  right  and  truth 
are  dearer  than  human  friendship,  and  mightier  than  the 
bonds  of  political  association.  He  carries  his  politics 
into  his  closet,  and  subjects  his  whole  life  to  the  inspec- 
tion of  a  righteous  God. 

As  a  lawyer,  he  will  set  before  himself  the  nature  and 
object  of  law;  He  believes,  with  Hooker,  that  "  Law 
hath  her  seat  in  the  bosom  of  God,  and  her  voice  is  the 
harmony  of  the  world."  He  regards  Civil  Law  as  the 
vindication  of  right,  the  establishment  of  justice,  and  the 
outward  conservator  of  the  peace  of  society ;  its  ulti- 
mate principles  as  embodied  in  the  Divine  Law,  its  forms 
and  modes  of  procedure  as  the  imperfect  product  of  im- 
perfect men.  He  sees  in  his  profession  a  power  to 
educate  men  in  their  rights  and  duties,  restrain  their 
passions,  and  secure  the  harmony  of  society.  He  prac- 
tices it,  not  as  something  which  occasionally  necessitates 
the  violation  of  conscience,  but  as  that  which  in  all  its 
just  aims  and  methods,  God  approves.  Entertaining 
these  lofty  views,  he  seeks,  as  a  Christian,  to  make  the 
law  accomplish  these  ends.  If  this  were  impossible,  as 
some  seem  to  think,  then  no  conscientious  man  should 


15 

ever  enter  the  profession  ;  then  our  modern  legal  system 
should  be  reformed,  or  buried  out  of  sight.  He  asks 
not  how  others  have  practiced  it ;  how  selfishness  has 
converted  it  into  an  instrument  of  injustice;  how  it  has 
been  used  to  give  victory  to  crime  and  crush  the  inno- 
cent. His  soul  revolts  from  such  principles  and  prac- 
tices as  opposite  to  its  nature,  and  abominable  in  the 
sight  of  God.  Hence,  he  is  no  fomenter  of  quarrels  • 
he  gives  no  encouragement  to  useless  litigation.  The 
rogue  does  not  spontaneously  resort  to  him  as  one  who, 
for  money,  will  shield  him  from  the  just  consequences 
of  his  villainy ;  but  the  poor  man  goes  to  him  as  one 
ever  ready  to  advocate  the  right,  without  despoiling  him 
of  his  little  all.  He  may  be  wrong  in  his  judgment  of 
the  guilt  or  innocence  of  particular  parties ;  he  may 
sometimes  mistake  the  law,  but  this  will  be  due  to  that 
fallibility  which  inheres  in  all  men,  and  not  to  any  want 
of  purity  of  motive,  or  just  effort  to  attain  the  truth. 
He  will  also  give  his  influence  to  those  proper  measures 
which  contemplate  the  correction  of  wrong,  the  reforma- 
tion of  morals  and  the  advancement  of  the  principles  of 
freedom.  He  will  seek  to  make  his  profession  a  power 
for  good  in  society ;  to  make  law  the  conservator  of 
order,  the  reformer  of  morals,  the  ally  of  religion,  and 
an  element  of  peace  and  prosperity  to  the  whole  com- 
munity. 

If  he  is  called  to  positions  of  public  trust,  he  will 
illustrate  his  principles  by  a  conscientious  attention  to 
all  the  duties  of  his  office.  His  integrity  will  be  so 
manifest,  that  corruption  dare  not  approach  him  with  its 
polluted  offerings.  A  transparent  honesty  will  commend 
him  to  the  people,  even  when  his  conviction  of  the  right 
may  be  in  opposition  to  theirs.     Personal  aggrandize- 


16 

ment  will  never  be  balanced  against  the  public  good. 
The  principles  of  religion  will  not  only  make  him  clear 
sighted  in  detecting  what  is  wrong,  but  fortify  him 
against  the  temptations  which  so  often  assail  our  public 
men. 

In  addition  to  all  this,  he  will  take  a  deep  interest  in 
those  institutions  and  measures  wdiich  are  connected 
with  the  right  education  of  the  people.  The  School  and 
the  College,  where  the  foundations  of  our  national  progress 
are  laid  in  the  minds  of  the  young,  will  enjoy  his  watch- 
ful care  and  powerful  advocacy,  while  the  Church  of  God, 
in  all  her  plans  and  efforts  for  the  elevation  and  salvation 
of  men,  will  enlist  his  profoundest  feelings  and  command 
the  richest  offerings  of  his  mind  and  heart. 

Men  there  have  been  in  our  land ;  men  there  are  now, 
who,  in  their  public  life  open  to  every  eye,  have  thus 
stood,  or  do  now  stand,  a  tower  of  strength  to  the  right, 
and  a  light  to  the  nation ;  men  who  command  the 
reverence  and  affectionate  respect  of  their  associates, 
and  demonstrate  that  in  the  light  of  God  they  saw  that 
which  was  hidden  from  others,  their  equals  in  native 
force  of  mind  and  worldly  science.  Before  those  of  us 
whose  memory  of  public  men  reaches  back  over  the  last 
thirty  years,  the  form  of  the  noble  Frelinghuysen  rises, 
as  a  signal  illustration  of  every  point  suggested  in  this 
discourse.  At  the  Bar,  in  the  Senate  Chamber,  as  the 
presiding  officer  of  a  college,  as  a  member  of  society  and 
the  church,  men  loved  him  for  his  pure  Christian  spirit, 
respected  him  for  his  firm  adherence  to  right,  confided 
in  him  for  his  ability  and  fidelity  in  all  public  trusts, 
and  admired  him  for  an  eloquence  that  thrilled  while  it 
strengthened  their  hearts  in  every  high  and  noble  pur- 
pose. 


17 

To-day  I  propose  to  bring  before  you  the  character  of 
one  among  the  illustrious  dead  of  this  year  ;  of  one  well 
known  to  many  in  this  section  of  the  State,  where  he 
spent  the  first  part  of  his  professional  life  ;  of  one  whose 
Christianity  made  his  patriotism  and  his  legal  attainments 
brighter  and  mightier  ;  of  one  who,  by  his  munificent  be- 
quest, has  linked  his  name  to  this  College  for  all  the 
future. 

William  Curtis  Noyes  was  born  in  Schodack,  Rensse- 
laer county,  on  the  19th  of  August,  1805.  His  father, 
George  Noyes,  came  to  this  State  from  Connecticut.  In 
the  direct  line  he  was  descended  from  the  Rev.  James 
Noyes,  a  Nonconformist  clergyman  of  England,  who 
immigrated  to  this  country  in  1634,  and  settled  as  pastor 
of  the  church  in  Newbury,  Mass.,  where  he  died  in 
1658.  Through  his  paternal  grandmother,  he  traced  his 
descent  from  Governor  William  Bradford  and  John 
Alden,  of  the  Mayflower.  On  his  mother's  side,  his 
ancestors  were  Friends  and  Hollanders  who  early  settled 
in  New  Jersey.  His  early  training  in  the  bosom  of  a 
family  where  religion  was  a  controlling  power,  and  where 
all  the  hereditary  influences  tended  to  develop  a  self- 
reliant  and  earnest  manhood,  laid  the  foundations  for  his 
subsequent  success.  In  1819,  at  14  years  of  age,  his 
father  entered  him  as  a  student  of  law  in  the  office  of 
Mr.  Eslick,  of  Albany.  After  a  few  months  he  was 
transferred  to  the  office  of  Judge  Ludlow,  then  practising 
in  Nassau,  and  now  of  Oswego.  On  the  removal  of 
his  father  to  Whitestown,  he  entered  the  office  of  Henry 
R.  Storrs,  of  that  place.  In  this  office  Mr.  Noyes  suc- 
ceeded Judge  Denio,  and  in  July,  1827,  in  his  twenty- 
second  year,  he  commenced  the  practice  of  law  in  Rome, 


18 

but  soon  after  removed  to  Utica.  It  was  here  that  his 
persistent  energy,  in  the  exercise  of  naturally  strong 
powers,  steadily  devoted  to  the  filling  out  of  his  high 
ideal  of  a  Christian  lawyer,  mainly  raised  that  noble 
superstructure,  which  subsequent  efforts  adorned  and 
enlarged.  He  removed  to  New  York  in  1838.  With 
no  special  advantages  arising  from  family  or  business 
connections,  brought  into  competition  with  men  of  the 
highest  legal  attainments  and  great  experience,  in  a  short 
time  he  reached  that  eminent  position  which  marked  him 
as  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  in  the  State. 

The  record  of  such  a  life  is  unvaried  by  those  start- 
ling acts  or  incidents  which  attract  national  attention. 
Never  occupying  public  office,  Mr.  Noyes  labored  chiefly 
within  the  appropriate  limits  of  his  own  profession. 
The  work  of  the  lawyer  is  in  a  field  traversed  by  few ; 
it  is  a  work  that  rarely  awakens  a  deep  interest  among 
the  masses.  Occasionally  a  criminal  trial  moves  the 
popular  heart,  and  affords  the  opportunity  for  those 
possessed  of  the  requisite  gifts  to  awaken  general  ad- 
miration. But  in  civil  causes,  the  argument,  however 
able,  usually  reaches  a  very  limited  number.  The 
greatest  achievements  of  the  ablest  mincls  interest  only 
a  very  small  audience.  Even  the  records  of  the  Courts 
fail  to  represent  to  those  who  come  after,  the  vast  learn- 
ing, the  force  of  argument,  and  the  admirable  power  of 
statement  which  have  been  exhibited  to  judges  and  juries. 
The  effect  of  those  efforts  on  the  Law  itself  is  often 
great ;  as  they  settle  precedents  or  afford  suggestions  to 
guide  future  legislation ;  but  there  is  little  in  them  to 
awaken  public  enthusiasm  or  attract  attention  outside  of 
the  profession.     And  thus  it  often  happens,   that   the 


19 

best  legal  minds  of-  the  nation,  the  men  who  have  ac- 
complished the  greatest  work  in  their  profession,  are 
known  not  so  much  directly  by  any  effort  of  theirs  seen 
and  appreciated  by  the  people,  as  by  the  estimate  formed 
of  them  by  the  few  who  were  cognizant  of  their  labors 
and  able  to  form  an  impartial  judgment  of  them. 

As  a  lawyer,  Mr.  Noyes  stands  forth  preeminent;  he 
embodied  in  himself  and  illustrated  in  his  life  a  high,  if 
not  the  highest  ideal  of  his  profession.  As  a  lawyer, 
therefore,  I  shall  first  speak  of  him. 

To  constitute  a  thoroughly  legal  mind,  able  not  only 
to  counsel,  but  to  plead,  there  must  be  a  rare  combination 
of  talents.  One  of  the  first  of  these  is  a  memory  at 
once  tenacious  and  ready— able  to  retain  and  prompt  in 
reproducing  its  treasures  on  all  appropriate  occasions. 
The  law,  above  all  other  professions,  rests  on  precedents. 
It  has  its  principles ;  but  it  is  those  principles  as  they 
have  been  applied  and  illustrated  by  judicial  minds  in 
the  past,  that  in  most  cases  guide  the  Bench,  and  are  to 
be  used  or  legitimately  set  aside  by  the  Bar.  The 
Common,  and  to  a  large  extent  the  Civil  Law,  are  the 
growth  of  judicial  decisions.  The  roots  of  the  law  strike 
deep  into  the  past.  It  is  not  the  naked  principle  which 
common  sense  thinks  it  can  apply  directly  to  the  case, 
so  much  as  the  principle  applied  by  the  common  sense 
of  the  legal  minds  of  the  past,  that  must  be  mastered 
and  interpreted  alike  by  judges  and  lawyers.  Rarely 
ever  does  a  court  pass  an  opinion  on  the  simple  princi- 
ple, stripped  of  all  its  historical  associations ;  but  when 
it  does  this,  if  it  be  entitled  to  respect  and  commands 
the  assent  of  the  Bar,  then  it  becomes  itself  a  precedent 


20 

to  guide  the  decisions  of  other  courts  in  analogous  cases. 
Novelty  here  is  presumptive  evidence  of  falsity. 

Now,  I  am  not  about  to  argue  the  merits  or  defects 
of  this  system ;  it  is  sufficient  for  my  purpose  to  state 
it,  in  order  to  illustrate  the  fact,  that  the  man  who 
attains  to  eminence  in  this  profession,  must  usually  be 
conversant  with  a  vast  mass  of  precedents;  scattered 
through  hundreds  and  sometimes  thousands  of  volumes. 
His  memory  must  not  only  be  capacious  enough  to  hold, 
but  ready  to  bring  them  forth ;  since  occasions  will 
arise,  when  little  time  is  allowed  for  research,  and  the 
answer  must  be  prompt,  or  the  opportunity  is  lost  for- 
ever. 

Mr.  Noyes  excelled  in  both  these  respects.  His 
knowledge  of  cases  was  remarkable.  In  regard  to  al- 
most every  one  he  had  ever  investigated,  he  retained 
such  an  impression  as  enabled  him  either  to  use  it  at 
once  as  the  occasion  demanded,  or  refer  to  it  for  more 
accurate  information.  Cases  are  to  the  lawyer  what 
bullets  are  to  the  soldier,  or  texts,  thoroughly  mastered, 
are  to  the  clergyman.  The  man  who  possesses  and 
knows  how  to  use  them,  is  a  powerful  advocate  and 
formidable  opponent. 

But  to  use  them  effectively,  other  powers  are  requisite. 
There  must  be  quick  perception  and  a  power  of  rapid 
analysis ;  the  power  to  detect  the  vital  point  at  issue, 
and  strip  off  the  merely  adventitious  circumstances  ;  the 
power  to  discover  the  vulnerable  positions  of  an  ad- 
versary, or  the  irrelevancy  of  his  arguments.  In  no  one 
of  the  liberal  professions  is  this  power  more  available  or 
more  essential  to  success.  Foot  to  foot,  hand  to  hand, 
face  to  face  the  opposing  counsel  struggle.     In  this  con- 


21 

test  points  unanticipated  will  arise  that  demand  instant 
settlement.  In  civil  causes,  where  principles  alone  are 
involved  and  the  appeal  is  not  to  feeling  but  to  reason, 
mere  declamation  is  powerless ;  the  clear  statement,  and 
the  argument  of  facts  and  principles,  are  alone  effective. 

Here  it  is  the  clear  analysis,  the  penetration  that 
reaches  the  heart  of  the  subject,  marks  the  consummate 
lawyer,  and  lifts  him  above  inferior  minds — with  Mar- 
shall and  Kent  and  Story,  he  moves  in  a  superior  sphere 
which  the  multitude  seek  in  vain  to  enter. 

In  this  respect  Mr.  Noyes  was  preeminent.  His  mind 
working  rapidly,  had  been  trained  to  the  most  thorough 
analysis.  He  easily  penetrated  to  the  heart  of  his  sub- 
ject, and  saw  at  a  glance,  the  weak  as  well  as  the  strong 
points  of  the  argument  His  achievements  in  logical 
analysis  have  been  compared  to  those  of  Lavoiser  and 
Farraday  in  physical  analysis ;  as  reaching  to  the  abso- 
lute correlation  and  conservation  of  all  the  forces  in  the 
argument.*     Certainly  few  members  of  the  Bar  in  this 

*  His  mind  was  originally  analytical,  and  the  thorough  study, 
which  he  never  intermitted,  made  him  a  powerful  advocate.  He 
never  attempted  any  of  the  glittering  show  of  words  without  argu- 
ment, or  words  to  conceal  truth,  which  are  so  characteristic  of  strono- 
jury  lawyers,  and  which  achieve  great  reputations  for  some  men.° 
His  ingenuity  was  ample,  but  he  depended  on  the  force  of  simple, 
plain  truth,  the  analysis  of  his  subject  and  its  argument,  to  the  very 
last  particle.  If  the  simile  may  be  allowed,  we  should  say,  that  he 
had  achieved  in  the  domain  of  logical  analysis,  what  Lovoiser  began 
and  Farraday,  Tyndal  and  others  are  endeavoring  to  perfect  in  physi- 
cal analysis,  the  absolute  correlation  and  conservation  of  all  the  forces 
in  the  argument.  He  dropped  nothing,  but  when  he  had  finished, 
his  work  was  complete,  and  it  required  a  master  mind  to  break  the 
force  thus  presented. — Journal  of  Commerce. 


22 

land  have  exhibited  this  power  of  analysis  in  a  greater 
or  in  an  equal  degree. 

Still  another  power  essential  to  forensic  eminence  is 
that  of  construction  and  expression.  It  is  not  enough 
that  he  possess  the  power  to  discover  the  facts  or  princi- 
ples by  which  conviction  of  the  truth  is  brought  home 
to  his  own  mind.  He  is  not  a  judge,  whose  province  it 
is  to  decide  the  question  according  to  his  convic- 
tions, whether  he  is  or  is  not  able  to  justify  these  con- 
victions to  others.  It  is  his  business  to  make  his  con- 
victions those  of  the  Bench  or  the  jury.  And  all 
experience  shows  that  many  men  possess  one  of  these 
powers  in  a  high  degree,  who  are  greatly  deficient  in  the 
other.  The  advocate  is  something  more  than  a  counsel- 
lor. He  must  be  able  to  construct  an  argument  so  as  to 
carry  conviction  to  other  minds.  He  must  build  up  as 
well  as  pull  down ;  he  must  demonstrate  the  truth  as 
well  as  reach  the  personal  conviction  of  it.  If  it  is  a 
question  of  fact,  he  must  place  it  in  such  connections, 
and  present  it  in  such  a  form,  with  such  illustrations,  as 
to  carry  conviction  to  the  mind  of  the  jury.  If  it  is  a 
question  of  law,  he  must  discuss  it  in  another  manner, 
so  as  to  meet  the  severe  logic  and  ample  learning  of  the 
Bench.  The  profound  research,  the  subtle  argument 
constructed  link  by  link  out  of  the  material  furnished 
by  a  profound  analysis,  and  with  a  logic  that  welds  each 
part  indissoluhly  together,  would  be  wholly  thrown  away 
in  addressing  an  unlettered  jury.  These  different  pro- 
cesses demand  each  a  different  order  of  talent.  In  the 
jury  lawyer,  a  lively  imagination,  a  quick  sensibility,  a 
keen  insight  into  the  character  of  those  he  is  addressing, 
and  a  power  to  adapt  himself  to  their  level  of  thought 


23 

and  feeling,  must  be  superadded  to  other  qualities.  The 
play  of  fancy,  the  exaggerations  of  rhetoric,  the  impas- 
sioned appeal,  all  are  elements  of  his  power.  Hence  it 
is  that  men  generously  endowed  with  these  gifts,  al- 
though deficient  in  legal  science  and  the  higher  powers 
of  reasoning,  have  risen  to  great  eminence  in  this  depart- 
ment of  legal  advocacy. 

In  the  other  sphere,  these  qualities  contribute  little  to 
success.  Here  patient  research,  the  comprehensive 
learning  that  lays  the  legal  lore  of  the  past  under  con- 
tribution, the  thorough  mastery  of  principles  and  the 
argumentative  ability  that  arranges  and  presents  them 
with  the  most  consummate  force  and  crystal  clearness, 
are  the  great  essentials.  Occasionally  it  happens  that 
individuals  remarkably  gifted  are  eminently  successful  in 
both  these  lines  of  advocacy.  But  such  instances  are 
rare. 

To  whatever  causes  we  may  attribute  it,  it  is  a 
recorded  fact  that  Mr.  Noyes  was  among  the  most  suc- 
cessful lawyers  in  both  these  spheres.  His  arguments 
were  constructed  with  remarkable  skill,  and  presented 
with  a  completeness,  a  clearness,  and  a  sincerity  adapted 
to  establish  his  own  convictions  in  the  minds  of  others. 
His  arguments  before  a  jury  were  not  remarkable  as 
rhetorical  exhibitions,  according  to  the  common  estimate 
of  oratory.  But  they  were  clear  and  strong.  Before 
the  Bench  he  made  his  vast  learning  available  in  con- 
structing and  fortifying  his  argument.  He  did  not  rise 
indeed  to  the  massive  generalizations  of  Hamilton  and 
Webster  :  nor  did  he  possess  either  their  splendid  powers 
of  oratory,  or  that  creative  genius,  vouchsafed  to  only  a 
fewT,  which,   out  of  the  fewest  materials,  builds  up  a 


24 

superstructure  that  is  the  delight  of  the  ages.  His 
learning,  while  it  adorned,  greatly  augmented  the  force 
and  breadth  of  his  keen  and  rapid  intellect.  He  wielded 
the  scimitar  of  Saladin  rather  than  the  ponderous  battle- 
axe  of  Richard  the  Lion-hearted.  To  the  side  he  es- 
poused he  was  a  tower  of  strength. 

But  I  have  yet  to  mention  the  main  element  which 
contributed  to  the  eminence  of  Mr.  Noyes.  I  refer  to 
his  untiring  and  systematic  industry.  Without  this, 
great  eminence  in  any  profession,  however  excellent  the 
natural  abilities,  is  rarely  gained,  or  a  great  and  lasting 
reputation  achieved ;  with  this,  even  ordinary  intellectual 
powers  will  effect  great  results.  There  may  be,  here 
and  there,  a  meteoric  mind  that  has  excited  a  transient 
admiration  by  its  dazzling  coruscations ;  but  unsustained 
by  vigorous  and  continued  effort,  it  has  soon  vanished 
into  darkness.  The  great  works  of  God  and  man,  with 
rare  exceptions,  are  the  products  of  time.  Point  by 
point  the  planets  compass  their  vast  orbits ;  by  slow  in- 
crements the  oak  reaches  its  giant  stature ;  step  by  step 
the  rocky  ribs,  and  granite  foundations  and  mineral 
treasures  of  the  earth  were  formed.  Day  by  day, 
through  slow  and  often  difficult  processes,  mind  expands 
and  gains  its  power.  Idea  added  to  idea,  fact  linked 
into  fact,  thought  gradually  forming  itself  into  expres- 
sion, reason,  by  its  daily  exercise,  rising  into  the  power 
of  induction,  problem  after  problem  mastered;  this  is 
the  slow,  and  sometimes  painful,  method  by  which  man 
rises  to  the  heights  of  intellectual  greatness  and  achieves 
works  that  are  to  live  in  the  coming  ages. 

The  ability  of  continuous  mental  labor,  is  itself  one 
of  the  powers  most  essential    to  success;    and  when 


25 

united  with  strong  natural  gifts,  its  results  are  the  ad- 
miration and  the  glory  of  man. 

When,  at  fourteen  years  of  age,  Mr.  Moyes  entered 
the  office  of  Mr.  Esfick,  he  assumed  and  felt  the  re- 
sponsibilities of  a  man.  While  he  realized  the  necessity 
of  labor  in  part  for  his  own  support,  he  knew  also  that 
the  character  of  his  future  depended  on  the  improve- 
ment of  his  present  advantages.  He  had  no  time  to 
waste  in  idle  and  enervating  pleasures ;  for  a  new  life 
had  dawned  upon,  and  its  bright  ideal  perpetually  drew 
him  forward.  From  that  early  period,  for  nearly  fifty 
years,  his  course  furnishes  to  our  American  youth  a 
splendid  illustration  of  the  power  of  labor  directed  to 
noble  ends.  Before  he  was  nineteen,  while  yet  a  student 
in  the  office  of  Judge  Ludlow,  "  in  addition  to  the  per- 
formance of  all  the  clerical  labor  of  the  office,  he  pre- 
pared an  abridgement  of  Caine's  Practice,  making  at  the 
same  time  copious  notes  of  the  changes  occasioned  by 
statutory  enactments,  as  well  as  references  to  the  judicial 
decisions  on  matters  of  practice  which  had  been  made 
during  the  fourteen  years  that  Caines  was  the  standard 
work  on  that  subject  in  this  State.''*  It  was  this  untir- 
ing industry  that  led  Judge  Ludlow  to  predict,  "  that 
this  quiet  and  unobtrusive  boy  would,  with  good  health, 
take,  at  an  early  day,  a  prominent  rank  at  the  Bar.11 
Judge  Denio  informs  me  that  when  at  the  commencement 
of  their  career,  they  used  to  practice  in  the  justice's 
courts,  Mr.  Noyes  always  had  a  thoroughly  digested 
brief,  with  the  cases  pertinent  to  his  points  noted  down, 
and  that,  if  they  could  be  found,  it  would  appear  that 

*  A.  J.  Vanderpoel,  Esq. 
D 


26 

they  bore  all  the   marks   of   careful  preparation  which 
distinguished  his  subsequent  efforts. 

To  this  assiduity  in  labor,  he  united  a  systematic 
division  of  his  time.  Everything  had  its  place,  and  its 
hour,  down  to  the  minutest  arrangements  of  his  busy 
life.  To  him  time  was  an  element  of  progress  and 
power,  which,  unimproved,  was  lost  forever.  While  yet 
a  student,  his  eyes  became  diseased,  and  he  was  unable 
to  use  them.  But  he  still  prosecuted  his  studies,  through 
the  assistance  of  a  friend  who  read  to  him.  After  his 
removal  to  New  York,  in  consequence  of  an  accumula- 
tion of  business,  the  same  difficulty  occurred ;  but  by 
the  aid  of  an  amanuensis,  he  continued  to  labor.  Before 
the  indomitable  energy  of  this  man,  difficulties  vanished, 
and  he  rose  with  every  new  demand  to  the  full  height 
of  the  occasion.  Such  steadiness  of  purpose,  such  un- 
remitting industry,  associated  with  fine  natural  abilities, 
and  directed  to  noble  ends,  with  the  Divine  blessing, 
soon  elevated  him  to  a  position  among  the  select  few 
who  stand  at  the  head  of  the  Bar  in  this  State.  This 
enabled  him  to  meet  the  demands  made  upon  him  by 
one  of  the  largest  and  most  exhausting  practices  in  the 
State ;  this  enabled  him  faithfully  to  discharge  other 
duties,  which  as  a  citizen,  a  father  and  a  Christian,  he 
owed  to  the  State,  his  family  and  the  church  5  this  en- 
abled him  to  supplement  in  part  the  deficiencies  oc- 
casioned by  the  lack  of  an  early  and  thorough  classical 
training,  deficiencies  which  he  in  common  with  others 
who  have  won  high  reputation  in  the  profession,  felt 
and  acknowledged  all  through  life ;  this  made  him  as 
familiar  with  the  magnificent  library  which  he  had 
gathered  around  him,  and  is  from  henceforth  to  adorn  the 


27 

halls  of  this  Institution,  as   many  lawyers  are  with  the 
pages  of  Blacks  tone. 

To  these  qualifications  for  his  work  as  a  lawyer^  we 
must  add  a  remarkable  degree  of  self-possession.  Al- 
though naturally  of  a  somewhat  nervous  and  excitable 
temperament,  he  yet  had  trained  himself  to  such  perfect 
self-control,  that  the  deepest  excitement  of  the  struggle 
never  blinded  his  judgment,  or  betrayed  him  into  an  un- 
guarded expression.  The  rudest  assaults  affected  him 
apparently  no  more  than  falling  of  water  upon  a  rock. 
Always  urbane  and  courteous  amidst  the  fiercest  conflict, 
he  rarely  retorted ;  but  when  justice  to  himself,  or  to 
his  cause  demanded  it,  his  arrow  pierced  to  the  heart  of 
his  assailant.  No  man  at  the  Bar  illustrated  more  fully 
the  power  of  a  mind  self-possessed  in  the  consciousness 
of  his  resources,  or  the  manly  and  noble  courtesy  of  the 
Christian  lawyer.* 

It  has  been  said  that  the  test  of  true  greatness  in  a 
public  man,  is  the  ability  to  meet  successfully  every  oc- 
casion that  calls  for  the  exercise  of  great  powers.  Tried 
by  this  test,  Mr.  Noyes  is  placed  by  the  ablest  of  his 
associates  among  the  great  men  who  have  wrought  in 
the  law.  Engaged  in  some  of  the  most  important  suits 
ever  litigated  in ,  this  State,  he  stood  abreast  of  those 
whose  splendid  talents  and  varied  attainments,  consti- 
tute the  pride  and  glory  of  the  New  York  Bar.  a  Among 
the  many  great  cases,"  says  the  Hon.  William  M.  Evarts, 
"  in  which  Mr.  Noyes  was  employed,  it  fell  to  my  for- 
tune to  be  concerned  in  three— once  as  his  associate 
throughout  the  long  Police  Law  litigations,  once  opposed 

*  See  the  fine  address  of  Charles  O'Connor,  Esq.,  in  the  Appendix. 


28 

to  him  in  the  .New  Haven  Railroad  Gases,  and  again  in 
the  Rose  Will  Gase.  I  do  not  think  that ''our  Bar  ever 
presented  so  singular  a  scene  as  the  trial  of  the  New 
Haven  Railroad  Cases,  in  which,  speaking  almost  liter- 
ally, Mr.  Noyes  was  on  one  side  and  all  the  rest  of  us 
on  the  other.  It  was  a  wonderful  trial  of  a  man's  re- 
sources and  of  his  temper,  for,  when  any  one  of  us  was 
exhausted  on  our  side,  there  was  always  a  fresh  hand  to 
take  it  up  for  us ;  but  he  was  the  constant  combatter  of 
all  of  us  in  succession,  and  stood— as  in  some  of  the  an- 
cient conflicts  of  physical  force — like  Hercules*  defend- 
ing a  bridge  with  his  single  arm  against  a  host  of 
adversaries.  In  the  Rose  Will  Case,  he  brought  to  his 
side  the  culmination  of  great  researches  and  valuable 
ideas  that  he  had  collected  in  the  doctrine  of  charitable 
uses.  Under  our  statutory  and  constitutional  laws, 
there  was  nothing  that  he  had  not  considered,  and  no- 
thing that  he  did  not  know  that  was  practically  and 
substantially  valuable  in  the  doctrine  of  charitable  uses. 
In  the  police  litigations,  from  the  first  excitement  until 
the  final  conclusion  of  the  litigations  that  determined 
the  title  of  the  policeman,  Mr.  Noyes  was  constant  in 
the  service  that  he  rendered  to  the  side  which  he  had 

*  I  find  Hercules  in  the  printed  report  of  Mr.  Evarts'  speech  ;  it  is 
probably  a  mistake  of  the  reporters,  for  Horatius.     Mr,  Evarts  was, 
as  I  remember  well,  a  fine  classical  scholar,  in  "  Yale," 
';  Alone  stood  brave  Horatius, 
But  constant  still  in  mind ; 
Thrice  thirty  thousand  foes  before, 

And  the  broad  flood  behind. 
'  Down  with  him  !'  cried  false  Sextus, 

With  a  smile  on  his  pale  face ; 
'Now  yield  thee,'  cried  Lars  Porsena  — 
'  Now  yield  thee  to  our  grace.'  " 


29 

espoused,  and  perhaps  upon  that,  more  than  any  profes- 
sional association  which  I  enjoyed  with  him,  I  got  the 
opportunity  to  see  what  he  brought  to  his  friends,  and 
what  aid  or  help  he  could  give  to  or  receive  from  his 
associates." 

This  description  is  not  the  language  of  flattery, 
prompted  by  those  feelings  which  the  presence  of  death 
inspires,  and  which  sometimes  impel  us  to  exaggerate 
the  excellencies  of  those  who  can  no  more  occupy  the 
position  of  rivals,  and  whose  fame,  enshrined  in  the 
past,  no  longer  overshadows  our  own.  It  is  in  harmony 
alike  with  the  judgment  of  all  Mr.  Noyes'  associates  at 
the  Bar,  and  with  the  actual  achievements  which  dis- 
tinguished his  career.  The  youth  who  labored  with 
such  untiring  diligence  to  prepare  for  his  work,  when  he 
reached  the  ripeness  of  middle  life,  proved  himself  able 
to  sustain  the  greatest  responsibilities,  and  equal  to  the 
greatest  occasions  of  his  professional  life. 

In  consequence  of  his  high  reputation,  he  was  ap- 
pointed, by  the  Legislature,  in  1857,  one  of  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  Code.  It  is  stated  by  his  colleagues 
in  this  great  work,  that  the  chief  labor  of  its  preparation 
was  performed  by  him;  and  it  is  an  interesting  fact, 
that  he  revised  the  last  sheets  of  the  completed  Code 
on  the  evening  before  he  was  struck  down  by  the  disease 
that  caused  his  death. 

We  are  not,  however,  in  considering  the  character  of 
Mr.  Noyes,  to  limit  our  view  to  that  field  of  professional 
labor  in  which  he  won  his  chief  apparent  victories.  There 
were  other  responsibilities  which  rested  upon  him,  and 
which  he  nobly  sustained.     Among  these  I  may  mention 


0 


the  patriotic  service  he  rendered  to  his  country.  Early 
in  his  career,  he  did  not  engage,  to  any  great  extent,  in 
politics.  Originally  a  Whig,  when  that  party  was  dis- 
solved and  the  Republican  formed  with  reference  to  the 
new  issues  that  then  agitated  the  country,  he  attached 
himself  to  it,  and  actively  sought  to  make  it  successful. 
In  1861,  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  Peace  Commis- 
sioners from  this  State,  to  harmonize,  if  possible,  the 
conflicting  views  and  interests,  which  threatened  the 
dissolution  of  the  Union.  In  the  Conference  which  fol- 
lowed, he  labored  with  his  accustomed  energy  to  avert 
the  struggle  between  the  North  and  South,  wThich  he 
had  long  feared  and  anticipated.  When  he  found,  how- 
ever, that  all  concession,  save  that  which  sacrificed  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  Republic,  was  unavailing, 
and  that  the  issue  must  be  subject  to  the  arbitrament  of 
the  sword,  then  he  gave  the  whole  force  of  his  intellect, 
his  reputation  and  his  energy  to  the  support  of  the 
government,  as  embodying  in  itself  the  cause  of  right, 
of  justice,  of  humanity,  of  free  government,  and  of 
God.  With  his  pen  and  voice  he  labored  to  rouse  the 
patriotism  of  his  countrymen,  to  present  the  true  view 
of  the  great  issue,  to  aid  the  government  in  its  efforts 
to  obtain  men  and  means  to  carry  the  Avar  to  a  success- 
ful conclusion.  Solicited,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the 
rebellion,  to  contribute  to  the  endowment  of  the  Robin- 
son Professorship,  he  answered,  "  Be  assured  I  shall 
remember  Hamilton,  but  now  all  that  I  have  must  be 
held  subject  to  the  prosecution  of  this  war."  When 
remonstrated  with  on  account  of  his  incessant  labors, 
and  told  they  would  shorten  his  life,  he  replied,  "  If  I 
die  in  the  service  of  my  country,  I  am  willing  to  go." 
In  the  opinion  of  those  qualified  to  judge  correctly,  these 


31 

anxieties  and  labors,  in  addition  to  his  professional  work, 
contributed  largely  to  send  him,  while  yet  in  the  full 
vigor  of  his  powers,  to  the  grave.  In  this  war,  not 
those  alone  who  fell  on  the  field,  have  died  for  their 
country.  Away  from  the  roar  of  cannon  and  the 
hurtling  tempest  of  shot,  and  the  clash  of  bayonet  and 
sword,  others  have  fought  and  fallen  for  the  cause  of 
liberty.  There  are  martyrs  nearer  home,  whose  bodies 
fill  quiet  graves,  who  freely  offered  life  on  the  altar 
of  patriotism.  Among  those  whose  memory  shall  live 
fresh  and  green  in  the  minds  of  freemen,  whose  names 
shall  be  written  high  on  the  scroll  of  our  fallen  patriots, 
William  Curtis  Noyes  will  not  be  the  least. 

And  here  it  is  well  to  notice  the  fact  that  Mr.  Noyes, 
both  as  a  lawyer  and  a  politician,  was  animated  by  a 
just  ambition.  I  use  the  word  under  protest ;  for  it  has 
been  employed  so  often  in  a  bad  sense,  as  to  stand  in 
the  minds  of  many  as  a  symbolism  of  corruption. 
There  is  a  vulgar  ambition  for  mere  distinction,  place, 
or  power,  which  delights  in  notoriety,  and  to  gain  its 
object  will  burn  a  temple  grand  as  that  of  Ephesus,  or 
assassinate  a  president  though  he  were  the  noblest  of 
men ;  which  rejoices  in  the  tinsel  and  glitter  of  office, 
and  is  neither  careful  of  the  means  by  which  it  is 
attained,  nor  of  the  use  of  the  power  it  confers.  And 
there  is  an  ambition  which  aims  at  high  attainments, 
and  desires  those  positions  in  which  those  attainments 
may  be  used  to  exert  the  largest  influence  in  elevating 
society ;  this  ambition  may  exist  in  an  angel's  breast. 

Mr.  Noyes  early  formed  a  high  ideal  of  excellence  in 
his  profession;  with  rare  energy  and  steadiness  of  pur- 
pose he  devoted  himself  to  its  attainment.     Step  by 


32 

step  he  ascended,  until,  in  the  judgment  of  others,  if 
not  of  himself,  he  stood  on  the  summit.  He  desired  a 
position  in  which  his  acknowledged  abilities  and  ripe 
powers  would  enable  him  to  exert  a  more  direct  influence 
upon  the  establishment  of  those  legal  principles  which 
underlie  our  national  institutions,  and  which,  when  fully 
unfolded,  will  constitute  a  body  of  law  in  advance  of  all 
other  legal  systems.  But  he  would  stoop  to  no  intrigue, 
nor  abate  a  jot  from  his  lofty  integrity  to  attain  it.  "If 
he  could  not  honestly  reach  such  a  position,"  he  declared, 
"  he  would  go  without  it."  He  was  prominent  among 
those  proposed  for  the  seat  of  Chief  Justice  of  the 
United  States,  made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Judge 
Taney.  And  no  one  can  doubt  but  that  his  vast  learn- 
ing, his  thorough  insight  into  the  principles  of  law,  his 
spotless  integrity,  his  sound  judgment,  his  fidelity  in  the 
discharge  of  duty,  would  have  commanded  the  confidence 
of  the  nation.  It  is  well  for  our  educated  young  men  to 
be  animated  by  such  an  ambition ;  to  have  ever  before 
them  a  high  ideal,  and  seek  for  excellence  in  their  pro- 
fessions with  untiring  assiduity,  as  a  power  to  be  used 
for  the  spread  of  right  principles  and  the  elevation  of 
mankind. 

Let  us  now  contemplate  the  inner  life  of  this  man; 
the  religious  principles  which  more  than  everything  else 
contributed  to  make  him  what  he  was.  Mr.  Noyes  was 
a  Christian.  Springing  from  a  Puritan  ancestry,  his 
early  life  was  developed  under  the  influence  of  pious 
parents,  who  nobly  illustrated  in  their  own  lives,  and  in 
the  training  of  their  children,  the  strict  religious  dis- 
cipline characteristic  of  such  an  origin.  It  is  customary, 
with  some  persons,  to  speak  slightingly  of  Puritanism; 
the  accidental  peculiarities  are  made  the  cover  for  an 


33 

assault  upon  the  thing  itself.  But  Puritanism  essentially 
sprang  from  the  direct  contact  of  the  mind  and  heart  of 
the  people  with  the  living  word  of  God.  It  is  the  pro- 
duct of  the  Bible  enthroned,  as  a  life  giving  power,  in 
the  soul.  It  made  this  the  sole  standard  of  religious 
truth,  the  sole  test  of  opinions  concerning  our  relations 
to  God  and  man ;  it  exalted  the  essence  above  the  form, 
the  revealed  word  above  the  traditions  of  a  corrupt 
church.  Giving  to  every  man  the  right  of  private 
judgment,  it  taught  him  how  to  exercise  it.  Making 
the  people,  under  God  and  his  word,  the  operative 
source  of  power,  it  trained  them  to  self-government  by 
the  very  strictness^of  its  discipline.  Inspiring  self- 
reliance,  it  gave  scope  and  impulse  to  the  development 
of  their  native  energy.  Its  grand  ideas  and  sublime  con- 
nections with  things  invisible,  exalted  and  moulded  their 
manhood.  It  protested  against  the  despotism  of  the 
hierarchy  and  the  despotism  of  the  king;  but  it  held 
fast  to  the  Bible  as  the  only  chart  of  freedom  for  the 
soul.  Embracing  this  book  with  a  faith  rarely  sur- 
passed, it  sought  to  apply  its  teachings  to  the  entire 
sphere  of  human  action,  and  bring  society  into  harmony 
with  its  sublime  philosophy.  Deriving  its  life  from  this 
fountain  of  light,  God  honored  it.  It  inspired  the 
Hugenots  in  their  resistance  to  despotism,  and  made 
multitudes  of  them  exiles  to  this  new  world.  It  was 
the  sustaining  power  which  gave  liberty  to  Holland.  It 
planted  republicanism  on  these  shores  :  it  gave  to  this 
nation  its  bone  and  sinew :  its  restless  enterprise  :  its 
high  intelligence  :  its  indomitable  spirit  of  liberty.  It 
has  done  more  to  create  schools  and  colleges  and  benevo- 
lent institutions,  than  all  other  influences  combined.  It 
reared  churches  among  the  advancing  population  and 

E 


34 

taught  the  only  truths  which  are  able  to  form  a  stable, 
enterprising,  intelligent,  religious  and  free  society.  And 
if  this  nation  is  to  live  and  prosper,  and  become  a 
mighty  influence  in  the  regeneration  of  the  world,  it  is 
the  spirit  of  Puritanism  inspired  by  the  pure  word  of 
Grod  that  is  to  form  and  prepare  it  for  so  grand  a  destiny. 

Under  its  influence,  the  character  of  Mr.  Noyes  was 
formed.  In  his  maturer  years,  as  he  witnessed  the  in- 
fluence of  another  style  of  social  life  and  household 
training  upon  society,  he  rejoiced,  with  devout  gratitude 
to  God,  in  his  thorough  religious  education  under  the 
paternal  roof. 

Early  in  his  professional  life  he  became  personally 
and  vitally  interested  in  religion.  The  change  wTas  deep 
and  lasting.  It  ennobled  his  whole  character ;  it  chas- 
tened and  purified  his  ambition,  enriched  and  amplified 
every  natural  grace,  inspired  nobler  aims  and  gave  a  new 
direction  to  his  spiritual  life,  strengthened  him  to  resist 
temptation  and  live  to  do  good.  It  enabled  him  to  bear 
trials  with  fortitude,  and  "  made  him,"  according  to  his 
own  declaration,  "  a  thinking  man  and  a  better  lawyer." 
This  vital  influence— faith  in  Jesus — gradually  moulded 
his  entire  character,  and  affected  every  department  of 
thought  and  action.  His  pastor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Prentice, 
remarks  of  him,  that  "  he  possessed  the  humility  and 
artless  faith  of  a  little  child.  It  was  a  delight  to  preach 
to  him,  he  was  such  a  friendly,  patient,  and  devout 
listener.  His  love  to  the  Bible  and  to  all  the  great 
ordinances  of  religion  was  after  the  type  of  that  of  the 
old  saints  ;  so  too  was  his  confidence  in  the  great  catho- 
lic doctrines  of  religion.  The  skeptical  objections  and 
tendencies  of  modern  thought  appeared  to  give  but  little, 


35 

if  any,  trouble  of  mind.  He  was  eminently  a  man  of 
faith.  The  very  word,  especially  in  its  Latin  form,  was 
exceedingly  dear  to  him.  He  inscribed  it  upon  the  most 
precious  symbol  of  his  love.  '  Fide '— <  by  faith  we 
stand/  that  was  his  motto.  Pie  endured  as  seeing  Him 
who  is  invisible,  and  he  did  so  by  keeping  up  personal 
communion  with  his  God  and  Saviour  through  prayer." 

It  was  in  the  strength  of  this  faith  that  he  rose 
superior  to  the  fascinations  of  the  world.  When  he  re- 
moved to  New  York,  he  was  strongly  solicited  to  join 
the  circles  of  the  thoughtless  and  gay,  who  regarded  not 
the  Sabbath,  cared  not  for  religion,  and  who  would  have 
rejoiced  to  have  made  him  like  themselves.  But  he 
stood  fast  by  the  Cross,  and  maintained  his  Christian 
integrity.  The  sweet  influence  revealed  itself  in  his 
family,  in  his  professional  life  and  in  his  relations  to  the 
church.  It  inspired  that  uniform  kindness  and  courtesy 
which  characterized  his  intercourse  with  his  professional 
brethren.  It  opened  his  heart  to  a  living  sympathy 
with  the  wants  and  sorrows  of  those  around  him.  His 
liberality,  based  upon  principle,  was  munificent.  He 
not  only  contributed  largely  of  his  means,  but  engaged 
actively  in  relieving  want.  For  years  he  was  a  member 
of  the  charitable  committee  of  the  New  England  Society, 
discharging  the  duties  of  that  position  with  great  self- 
denial  and  fidelity.  In  the  cause  of  temperance  he  felt 
a  deep  interest,  and  acted  as  one  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  "American  Temperance  Union."  His 
philanthropy  extended  to  all  classes  of  men.  He  felt 
great  interest  in  the  education  of  the  young,  and  mani- 
fested a  special  solicitude  for  the  advancement  of  the 
young  men  in  his  own  profession.     It  was  this  regard 


36 

for  the  young  that,  in  part,  impelled  him  to  commit  his 
great  law  library  to  this  Institution,  that  here  it  might 
remain  to  assist  in  the  training  of  its  students  for  the 
public  walks  of  life. 

In  the  Church,  especially,  his  fidelity  and  spiritual 
life  revealed  itself  most  unmistakably.  Here  he  was  at 
home ;  here  his  soul  found  the  secret  springs  that  re- 
freshed and  refined.  Here  his  liberality  was  large.  As 
he  did  not  regard  himself  as  fitted  to  preach  the  Gospel, 
for  many  years  he  sustained  a  home  missionary  to  preach 
in  his  stead  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God.  In  doing 
this  he  gave  no  hint  to  others ;  only  himself  and  an- 
other, through  whom  he  sent  his  gift,  being  acquainted 
with  the  fact.  His  interest  in  the  ministry  was  true  and 
cordial.  In  addition  to  the  testimony  of  his  pastor,  I 
may  here  quote  the  words  of  Rev.  Mr.  Richards,  the 
pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Litchfield,  Con- 
necticut, at  which  place  he  usually  spent  his  summer 
vacation,  in  the  old  homestead  of  the  late  Col.  Talmadge, 
the  grandfather  of  his  wife.  "  His  prayer  in  the  last 
meeting  which  he  attended  here,  was  strikingly  tender, 
humble,  simple,  devout;  and  the  trembling,  faltering 
tones  will  long  be  remembered  by  many.  He  was  a 
most  kind  and  generous  friend  to  me  and  mine,  a  liberal 
supporter  of  all  good  things  among  us,  a  special  guardian 
of  the  poor,  a  protector  of  the  friendless,  cheerful, 
affable,  accessible  to  all;  his  cares  apparently  resting 
lightly  upon  him,  his  ear  and  hand  open  to  an  appeal 
from  any  quarter ;  his  heart  animated,  his  life  controlled 
by  religious  principle,  while  he  was  devoid  of  cant  and 
sanctimoniousness.  There  are  few  his  like  in  this  or 
any  other  church,  in  this  or  any  other  community." 


37 

In  his  domestic  relations,  Mr.  Noyes  was  peculiarly 
happy,  and  here  the  gentler  virtues  of  the  son,  the 
brother,  the  husband  and  the  father  adorned  and  illus- 
trated a  character  remarkable  for  purity  and  strength 
of  affection.  In  his  home  he  laid  aside  the  cares  of 
business,  and  amidst  relations  so  sweet  and  tender,  his 
genial  spirit  was  the  life  and  joy  of  those  he  loved. 
His  hospitalities  were  unbounded,  and  those  who  en- 
joyed them  gained  a  clear  insight  into  his  noble  nature 
and  left  his  presence  happier  and  wiser. 

Affliction  had  frequently  entered  his  dwelling,  but  its 
influence  chastened  and  refined  his  spirit,  and  brought 
him  into  more  habitual  nearness  to  his  Saviour.  Before 
he  left  Utica  he  had  laid  in  the  grave  the  mortal  remains 
of  a  dearly  loved  wife  and  two  children.  Subsequently 
united  to  one  whose  ancestral  virtues  and  Christian  cul- 
ture made  her  a  congenial  companion,  his  home  was 
again  the  abode  of  light  and  joy.  In  January,  1850, 
his  only  son  was  taken  from  him,  and  in  1857,  on  the 
anniversary  of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims,  a  lovely 
daughter  passed  upward.  These  afflictions  darkened 
bright  hopes,  but  deepened  the  work  of  grace  in  his 
heart.  Solicited  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  New 
England  Society  on  that  day,  and  accept  the  Presidency, 
he  declined  with  the  remark  that  "it  was  not  a  joyful 
anniversary  to  him."  When  at  length  time  had  soothed 
the  anguish  of  his  loss,  he  gave  his  consent.  On  the 
night  of  December  22,  1864,  he  presided  at  the  anni- 
versary of  the  Society.  He  seemed  to  be  in  the  full 
maturity  of  his  powers  of  body  and  mind.  His  ad- 
dress on  this  occasion  was  full  of  noble  thoughts  and 
manly  eloquence,  a  fitting'  close  to  an  illustrious  career. 
The  next  morning  he  was  stricken  with  paralysis,  and 


38 

when  the  Sabbath  dawned  his  spirit  ascended  to  join 
the  victorious  host  who  through  faith  had  won  the  im- 
mortal crown.  Death  found  him  not  unprepared.  No 
conscious  triumph  in  the  hour  of  dissolution  was  needed 
to  assure  his  friends  of  his  final  victory  over  death  and 
the  grave.  Often  did  he  say  "  I  try  to  live  each  day  as 
if  I  expected  to  die  to-morrow."  Amidst  the  battle  of 
life,  with  all  his  armor  on,  in  the  full  strength  of  his 
powers  and  ripeness  of  his  fame,  he  fell  to  rise  immortal. 
In  the  light  of  God  he  had  seen  light,  and  so  he  died  to 
earth  to  live  in  heaven. 

His  death  was  felt  to  be  no  common  event.  He  had 
so  borne  himself  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  he  had  so  illus- 
trated the  virtues  of  a  Christian  manhood,  that  many  out- 
side of  his  own  immediate  circle,  felt  that  a  friend,  a  bene- 
factor, a  man  of  rare  excellencies  had  fallen.  Scarcely 
ever  in  the  history  of  the  Bar  has  one  of  its  members 
been  the  subject  of  more  heartfelt  and  exalted  eulogies. 
Here  on  this  hill  side  and  in  these  halls,  long  after  his 
friends  and  associates  have  gone  from  earth,  his  memory 
will  live,  while  his  character  and  works  will  assist  in 
forming  the  minds  of  our  youth  for  usefulness. 

Young  Gentlemen  of  the  Senior  Class  :  You  have 
at  length  reached  the  close  of  your  collegiate  life.  The 
point  at  which  you  stand  gathers  about  itself  a  peculiar 
interest.  The  past  years  of  your  life,  with  all  their  in- 
fluences for  good  or  evil,  are  fixed  never  to  be  retraced. 
The  future  opens  before  you  in  all  its  breadth  and 
length.  A  short  time  longer  most  of  you  will  spend  in 
the  study  of  your  respective  professions,  and  then  you 
will  enter  directly  upon  the  special  work  of  life.  In 
this,  my  last  official  address  to  you,  I  have  endeavored 


39 


to  set  before  you  the  great  principles  which  should  ani- 
mate and  control  you  in  the  future  as  educated  men. 
The  life,  to  the  description  of  which  you  have  listened, 
largely  confirms  and  illustrates  what  I  have  said.  Let 
me  here  gather  up  a  few  of  the  lessons  it  teaches,  in 
order  that,  as  they  are  grouped  together,  they  may  re- 
main with  you  to  guide  and  strengthen  you  in  your 
future  course. 

And  first,  remember  that  difficulties  in  the  prosecution 
of  your  work  are  not  to  be  dreaded  as  if  they  could  de- 
feat or  baffle  you  in  the  attainment  of  your  purpose. 
They  are  appointed  of  God  as  our  discipline  for  useful- 
ness. Resolutely  met  and  overcome,  they  augment  our 
power  and  lift  us  to  a  higher  position  of  influence.  The 
truly  great,  the  truly  good,  the  most  successful  men, 
were  not  nursed  in  the  lap  of  luxury  and  ease.  As  the 
eagle  pushes  Lits  fledglings  from  the  nest  and  compels 
them  to  battle  with  the  storm,  that  they  may  grow 
strong,  so  necessity  compels  us  to  task  our  powers  that 
we  may  grow  strong  in  all  that  constitutes  the  true  ex- 
cellence and  power  of  an  educated  manhood. 

A  second  lesson  this  life  illustrates  is  the  fact  that 
work,  rightly  directed,  is  ordinarily,  with  God's  blessing, 
one  of  the  chief  elements  of  success.  Life  is  not  made 
up  of  great  occasions  for  the  exercise  of  splendid  talents. 
It  is  composed  chiefly  of  common  e very-day  duties,  to 
the  discharge  of  which  moderate  talents,  steadily  ex~ 
ercised  are  amply  sufficient.  Besides,  it  is  only  the 
man  who  diligently  employs  each  hour  of  life  in  his 
appropriate  work,  who  is  able  to  rise  to  the  level  of 
great  occasions  when  they  occur.  Genius  or  great 
talents,  without  industry,  sink  into  practical  imbecility. 


40 

It  is  the  man  of  persevering  toil,  unseduced  by  the  false 
pleasures  of  ease,  who  perpetually  advances  in  science, 
develops  his  powers  in  the  line  of  useful  objects,  es- 
tablishes a  foundation  on  which  confidence  can  repose, 
and  wins  success.  Make  up  your  minds  to  a  life  of 
labor,  and  work  on  as  long  as  God  gives  you  health  and 
strength. 

Another  lesson  this  life  teaches  you,  is  that  a  just 
and  well-regulated  ambition  for  excellence  in  your  pro- 
fession is  ever  an  element  of  success.  The  whole 
tendency  of  the  Divine  working  in  man  is  towards  per- 
fection— sin  alone  produces  physical,  mental  and  moral 
imperfection.  The  moment  a  man  becomes  a  Christian, 
he  begins  a  warfare  with  the  downward  tendency  of  sin, 
he  struggles  after  conformity  with  a  perfect  standard. 
And  this  principle,  which  is  of  the  very  essence  of  re- 
ligion, is  to  be  carried  out  and  applied  to  everything 
with  which  we  have  to  do.  It  inspires  the  desire  to  do 
everything  in  the  best  manner ;  it  makes  us  discontented 
with  imperfection.  But  I  speak  of  it  now,  however,  in 
reference  to  the  special  work  of  your  life.  In  your 
profession,  aim  at  the  highest  excellence.  Desirable  in 
itself,  it  is  particularly  so  with  reference  to  your  power 
of  your  usefulness.  Be  ambitious  to  attain  the  highest 
influence  for  good  within  the  range  of  your  powers. 
Keep  this  point  ever  before  you.  Let  it  stimulate  and 
fire  you.  Let  the  desire  burn  in  your  soul  with  a  holy 
fervor.  Do  not  dishonor  it,  by  mingling  it  with  the 
selfishness  that  covets  power  and  excellence  merely  as 
the  means  of  securing  personal  ends.  Let  the  objects 
be  noble,  and  then  pursue  them  with  an  earnestness 
commensurate  with  their  importance.     Make  the  most 


41 

of  every  hour  of  life  and  the  abilities  God  has  given 
you.  Thus,  and  thus  only,  will  you  reap  the  richest 
harvest,  and  leave  behind  you  a  record  blazing  with 
light  in  every  part. 

You  are  taught  also  by  this  life  the  duty  of  fidelity 
to  all  your  engagements.  Let  it  be  seen  and  known  that 
whatever  trust  is  committed  to  you,  you  will  discharge 
its  duties  to  the  best  of  your  ability.  Thus  only  will 
you  win  confidence  and  become  a  tower  of  strength  and 
a  bright  light  in  your  generation. 

The  example  of  Mr.  Noyes  teaches  you  also  the 
duty  and  importance  of  interesting  yourselves  in 
those  movements  which,  in  our  free  land,  are  often 
vitally  connected  with  the  progress  and  elevation  of 
society.  As  educated  men  you  have  the  ability, 
and  it  will  be  expected  of  you  to  lead  in  all  measures 
of  healthful  reform;  to  labor  for  the  purity  and  sup- 
port of  our  civil  institutions ;  to  advocate  the  meas- 
ures essential  to  the  purity  of  morals ;  to  stand  by  the 
cause  of  Education,  and  make  your  influence  felt  in 
all  those  things  which  concern  the  well  being  of  society. 
Your  purse  should  be  open  to  the  calls  of  benevolence^ 
and  your  tongue  ready  to  advocate  every  good  cause. 

But  without  dwelling  on  other  points  here  illustrated, 
such  as  the  duties  which  spring  out  of  your  social  and 
family  relations,  the  courtesy  to  be  exhibited  in  your 
manners  towards  all  men,  and  the  interest  you  are  to 
cherish  in  the  young ;  let  me  sum  up  all  these  lessons 
in  the  one  final  and  grand  thought,  which  the  life  of  this 
distinguished  man  utters  most  impressively  in  your  ears. 
Vital  piety,  pervading  the  whole  man,  devotion  single 
and  entire  to  the  interests  of  Christ's  cause,  embraces 


42 

and  consecrates  all  onr  duties,  all  means  necessary  to 
the  largest  success,  all  hopes,  all  strength,  all  activity, 
all  attainments,  all  inspirations,  all  motives,  needful  to 
the  full  accomplishment  of  our  work  on  earth  and  our 
perfect  preparation  for  the  life  of  heaven.  When  Mr. 
Noyes  said  that  "  religion  had  made  him  a  thinking 
man  and  a  better  lawyer,"  he  virtually  said  that  religion 
had  brightened  and  expanded  his  intellect,  opened 
before  him  the  true  objects  of  thought,  purified  his 
affections,  strengthened  every  good  purpose,  taught 
him  the  relative  value  of  the  objects  of  human  pursuit, 
lifted  him  above  temptations  that  would  have  degraded 
and  enervated,  sustained  him  in  affliction,  inspired  a  new 
life  of  love  in  his  soul,  enabled  him  to  attain  a  higher 
position  here,  and  prepared  him  to  enter  into  the  rest  of 
God's  people.  In  the  light  of  God  he  saw  light.  All 
this  it  did  for  him  ;  all  this  it  will  do  for  you.  Most  of 
you,  I  trust,  have  already  a  vital  interest  in  Christ  as 
your  Redeemer.  Live  for  Him,  and  He  will  not  fail 
you  in  this  world  or  in  the  world  to  come.  Would  that 
those  of  you,  who  as  yet  have  never  known  Him,  would 
now  on  this  threshold  of  active  life  consecrate  yourselves 
to  His  service,  and  gain  thus  the  first— the  most  vital 
element  of  success.  A  nobler  field  of  labor  lies  open 
to  you  than  ever  before  in  the  ages  solicited  the  interest 
of  educated  mind.  Our  country  at  rest  again,  her  insti- 
tutions vindicated,  and  freedom  triumphant,  calls  upon 
you  to  go  forth  in  the  strength  of  Jesus  to  elevate  and 
bless  her  sons.  The  world  itself  opens  her  portals 
for  the  enterprise  of  mind,  especially  in  preaching  the 
Gospel,  and  pleads  for  you  to  enter  and  diffuse  amidst 
its  darkness  the  light  of  Christian  truth.     May  a  spirit 


Divine  guide  you  in  the  choice  of  your  profession    and 
your  field  of  labor,  and  make  you  mighty  to  do  good. 

And  now  that  we  are  to  separate  as  teachers  and  stu- 
dents, our  prayers  will  ascend  for  you,  our  best  wishes  and 
hopes  will  attend  you.  Wherever  you  may  go  in  after 
life,  be  assured  that  while  we  live,  there  are  those  who 
cherish  a  deep  interest  in  your  welfare,  hearts  that  will 
throb  with  joy  over  your  progress,  that  will  sympathize 
with  you  in  your  trials,  and  that  hope  to  meet  you  when 
this  scene  of  toil  is  over,  in  that  blessed  mansion,  that 
sublime  collegium,  where  Jesus  gathers  all  his  graduates 
to  be  forever  in  the  light  that  beams  from  his  counten- 
ance. The  blessing  of  that  Redeemer  rest  upon  you 
now  and  evermore.     Amen. 


APPENDIX 


RESOLUTIONS  OF  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Hamilton  College,  held 
at  the  College  on  the  nineteenth  day  of  July,  1865,  Judge  Denio 
presented  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions,  which,  on  his 
motion,  were  unanimously  adopted : 

The  Treasurer  having  communicated  to  the  Board  a  copy  of  the 
clause  in  the  will  of  the  late  William  Curtiss  Noyes,  by  which  he 
bequeathed  to  this  Corporation  his  very  valuable  law  library,  with 
the  information  that  the  books,  consisting  of  more  than  five  thousand 
volumes,  and  a  carefully  prepared  catalogue  have  been  received  at 
the  College,  it  is  thereupon 

Resolved,  That  this  last  donation,  added  to  the  former  liberality  of 
the  distinguished  benefactor,  by  which  the  astronomical  observatory 
has  been  furnished  with  one  of  its  most  useful  instruments;  and  the 
friendly  interest  which  he  has  uniformly  manifested  in  the  welfare  of 
the  Institution,  entitle  him  to  be  held  in  grateful  remembrance,  not 
only  by  its  constituted  guardians,  but  by  its  students  and  graduates, 
and  by  all  who  are  or  shall  be  in  any  way  associated  with  its  history 
and  fortunes ;  and  moreover,  that  the  example  furnished  by  his  emi_ 
nent  career  in  his  cherished  profession,  and  his  pure  and  unsullied 
life,  and  his  Christian  character  afford  a  not  less  useful  legacy  to  the 
young  men  of  the  country,  and  to  those  who  are  charged  with  the 
duty  of  preparing  them  for  usefulness  in  life. 

Resolved,  That  the  gift  of  this  library,  and  its  acceptance  by  the 
College,  impose  upon  the  Board  the  indispensable  obligation  of  pro- 
curing to  be  erected,  at  the  earliest  practicable  period,  a  suitable 
edifice  in  which  it,  together  with  the  books  constituting  the  College 
Library,  may  be  safely  kept  for  convenient  reference  and  use ;  and 
that  immediate  measures  be  taken  to  realize  the  pecuniary  means  for 
accomplishing  the  important  object. 

And,  on  motion  of  Dr.  Fowler, 


45 

Resolved,  That  Judge  Denio,  Judge  Bacon  and  Mr.  Wetmore  be 
and  they  are  hereby  appointed  a  committee  to  communicate  to  Mrs. 
Noyes  and  the  executors  of  Mr.  Noyes  the  foregoing  preamble  and 
resolutions. 

[A  copy.]  O.  S.  WILLIAMS, 

Secretary. 


THE    NOYES    LAW   LIBRARY, 

The  Law  Library  bequeathed  by  Mr.  Noyes  to  the  College  is  one 
of  the  most  complete  and  valuable  in  the  State.  It  contains  over 
five  thousand  volumes,  and  was  collected  by  Mr.  Noyes  with  great 
care  and  at  great  expense,  and  abounds  in  the  best  materials  for  the 
use  of  the  legal  scholar  and  active  practitioner. 

The  collection  contains  all  the  American  Statutes  and  Reports 
both  of  the  States  and  the  United  States ;  the  Statutes  and  Reports 
of  Upper  and  Lower  Canada ;  all  the  English  Statutes,  and  the  Re- 
ports of  the  English,  Scotch  and  Irish  Courts,  both  at  Common  Law 
and  in  Equity,  and  Ecclesiastical  Law. 

In  Elementary  Law  it  contains  all  the  principal  treatises  published 
in  England  and  America,  and  a  large  collection  of  legal  periodicals, 
such  as  the  London  Jurist,  and  the  Law  Journal. 

The  student  of  Ancient  and  Abstruse  Law  will  be  delighted  to  find 
excellent  copies  of  the  Mirror,  Glanville,  Bracton,  Fortescue,  Fleta, 
and  all  the  old  English  Reporters  in  folio,  with  the  Year  Books,  and 
the  Natura  Brevium. 

Civil  and  Admiralty  Law  has  not  been  forgotten,  and  the  Corpus 
Juris  Civilis  and  the  Codex  Theodosianus  lead  a  large  number  of 
valuable  works  in  these  departments. 

The  antiquarian  will  find  his  tastes  consulted  and  his  wants  pro- 
vided for  in  copies  of  many  rare  and  curious  works,  and  there  is 
hardly  any  book  which  a  lawyer  in  large  practice,  or  the  more  gene- 
ral legal  scholar  may  wish  to  consult,  which  may  not  be  found  in  this 
collection. 

The  Trustees  of  the  College  are  now  making  an  effort  to  erect  a 
suitable  library  building,  and  in  the  meantime  the  Noyes  Library  has 
been  put  up  in  a  large,  well-arranged,  and  well  lighted  room  adjacent  to 
the  College  Library. 


46 

A  full  catalogue  will  soon  be  published,  and  the  Library  itself 
thrown  open  for  use  to  the  legal  profession  in  this  section  of  the 
State. 


From  the  great  number  of  eulogies,  called  forth  by  the  death  of 
Mr.  Noyes,  the  following  are  selected  as  most  fully  representing  the 
views  and  feelings  of  the  Bar  at  large.  To  these  is  appended  a  por- 
tion of  the  address  delivered  at  the  funeral  by  his  Pastor. 

At  a  large  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  Bar  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  on  the  30th  of  December,  1864,  highly  eulogistic  resolutions 
wrerc  offered  by  A.  W.  Bradford  Esq.,  and  supported  by  addresses 
from  Dudley  Field,  Charles  P.  Kirkland,  James  T.  Brady,  A.  J.  Van- 
derpoel,  and  others.     The  following  is  the 

ADDEESS  OF  CHARLES  O'CONOR,  ESQ. 
Mr.  President  and  Brethren  of  the  Bar  : 

Those  who  have  contended  in  the  forum  with  our  departed  brother 
can  best  testify  to  his  very  great  capacity,  for  the  part  of  an  advo- 
cate in  the  Courts  of  Justice — his  great  natural  capacity,  because  en- 
dowed with  the  strong  sense  of  justice  and  conscience  that  stimu- 
ulated  him  to  the  sacrifice  of  self  and  life's  enjoyments,  to  the  fullest 
measure  that  necessity  might  require,  for  the  purpose  of  performing 
to  perfection  and  to  its  utmost  fullness  the  duty  of  the  advocate. 

This  temper  made  him  a  laborious  student — made  him  apparently 
an  ambitious  lawyer ;  but,  in  truth,  his  character  is  better  described 
by  the  single  term,  the  faithful  and  the  skillful  advocate. 

His  labors  were  not  directed  to  making  a  great  name,  but  to  ac- 
complish the  great  duty  of  failing  never  in  his  undertakings  on  be- 
half of  those  whom  he  considered  applicants  at  the  tribunals  of  justice 
in  the  enforcement  and  the  establishment  of  their  rights. 

Mr.  Noyes  is  thus  spoken  of  by  those  who  had  occasion  to  con- 
tend with  him,  and  had  thence  the  best  opportunity  of  judging  his 
character,  and  appreciating  his  abilities.      But  those  who  associated 


47 


with  him  as  friendly  champions  in  professional  pursuits — who  had 
the  pleasure  of  enjoying  his  society  in  social  intercourse,  and  who 
enjoyed  the  measureless  advantages  (I  mean  those  outside  of  our  pro- 
fession) of  having  him  for  a  daily  adviser  in  the  concerns  of  life,  that 
might  become  the  subjects  of  judicial  employment,  and  who  had  him 
for  their  champion  in  their  hour  of  trial — can  speak  of  him  in  other 
terras.  They  speak  of  him  in  language  that,  perhaps,  indicates  more 
consideration  for  self  than  for  him,  but  which  forms  the  highest  eulo- 
gy that  can  be  pronounced.  They  speak  of  him  as  a  friend  whose 
loss  is  to  them  irreparable,  and,  for  the  time,  appears  impossible  to  be 
supplied — who  joined  in  commending  his  high  qualities,  whose  words 
have  been  heard  expressive  of  their  sentiments  amidst  this  multitude, 
who  mourn  his  loss.  It  might  probably  be  well,  and  but  for  a 
single  circumstance  would  be  my  course  ;  but,  standing  here,  silently 
acquiescing  in  the  ample  and  sufficient  expression  of  grief  and  of  ad- 
miration that  this  meeting  has  heard,  a  single  circumstance  impels 
me  to  a  somewhat  different  course,  and  leads  me  to  utter  a  few  sen- 
tences in  concurrence  with  what  has  been  already  so  ably  and  so  elo- 
quently expressed.  It  has  been  my  fortune  to  be  associated  with 
Mr.  Noyes,  and  to  meet  him,  I  may  say,  in  all  attitudes  and  in  all 
capacities.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  associating  with  him  and  his  re- 
spected family.  I  have  contended  against  him  fall  many  a  time  and 
oft,  in  all  the  ardor  and  excitement  so  usual  in  courts  of  justice,  and 
where  advocates  warmly  espousing  their  respective  sides,  and  con- 
vinced for  the  moment  each  that  he  was  right,  strike  without  fear, 
favor  or  affection,  endeavoring  always  to  remember  justice.  I  say  I 
have  been  in  contact  with  him  in  most  all  capacities. 

I  have  contended  against  him  forensically  very  often.  I  have  been 
associated  with  him  in  some  of  the  most  interesting  and  import- 
ant causes  which  have  occupied  his  attention  and  mine,  and  engaged 
our  affections  and  our  interests  for  long  years  of  our  respective  lives. 

Perhaps  it  might  not  be  amiss,  in  connection  with  the  single  topic 
I  mean  to  present  as  the  point  of  my  remarks,  to  say  that  except  as 
being  natives  of  the  same  State,  except  as  being  members  of  the 
same  honorable  profession,  we  might  be  said  to  have  stood  in  a  posi- 
tion of  remarkable  antagonism  during  the  long  period  of  our  associa- 
tion—a period  covering  very  nearly  all  the  active  life  of  each  of  us. 
We  were  of  opposite  descent  and  race  ;  we  differed,  it  may  be  said, 
in  blood  ;  we  differed  in  creed  :  we  differed  in  political  opinions ;  Ave 


48 

differed  in  those  great  moral  questions  connected  with  the  social 
order,  which  are  supposed  to  underlie  much  of  the  difficulties  and 
controversies  which  have  existed  in  this  country.  And  gentlemen, 
I  may  be  permitted,  to  say,  that  the  difference  was  as  deep,  and  as 
earnest  and  as  distinct  as  it  was  sincere ;  yet,  holding  these  relations, 
permit  me  to  say  that,  ardent  and  enthusiastic  and  earnest  as  Mr. 
Noyes  was,  and  as  I  am  willing  to  avow  myself  generally  to  be 
when  engaged  in  any  conflict,  in  the  long  period  of  our  association, 
never  once,  under  any  measure  of  excitement,  however  great,  did 
Nr.  Noyes,  when  contending  with  me,  depart  even  for  an  instant  or 
in  the  slightest  degree,  from  a  course  of  the  strictest  courtesy,  and 
the  utmost  personal  kindness.  Though  thus  antagonistic  in  almost 
all  things  that  might  tend  to  create  adverse  feelings,  Mr.  Noyes  proved 
himself,  and  I  found  him  by  this  most  cogent  proof,  to  be  a  thorough 
Christian  and  a  thorough  gentleman. 

We  have  never  met  without  a  smile  ;  we  never  parted  without  a 
cordial  greeting.  Peace  to  his  ashes.  He  was  an  honor  to  the  name 
of  a  Christian  and  a  gentleman ;  he  is  a  loss  to  his  profession  and 
the  country. 

Mr.  O'Conor  was  followed  by 

HON.  WM.  M.  EVARTS. 

In  assenting,  Mr.  President,  to  the  wishes  of  the  Committee  which 
assigned  me  a  participation  in  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting,  I  had 
felt  that  I  could  never  take  towards  Mr.  Noyes  the  position  of  those 
elder  members  of  the  profession  who  had  been  long  and  intimately 
associated  with  him  upon  equal  grounds,  nor  yet  could  I  take  upon 
myself  any  longer  the  attitude  of  a  representative  of  the  younger 
Bar.  I  feel,  too,  now,  that  there  is  no  circumstance  of  his  life,  no 
feature  of  his  character,  no  trait  of  his  professional  career  that  has 
not  been  accurately  and  yet  applaudingly  presented  to  our  considera- 
tion. Yet  I  may  venture  to  give,  in  a  few  words,  some  estimate,  and 
the  means  of  that  estimate,  that  I  have  formed  of  Mr.  Noyes'  con- 
duct and  character  in  the  profession.  I  can  hardly  remember,  how- 
ever, when  I  first  became  acquainted  with  him,  either  personally  or 
in  purely  professional  intercourse.  When  I  came  here  as  a  student 
he  was  already  established  in  a  lucrative   and  prosperous  business, 


49 

which  he  pursued  till  the  time  of  his  death ;  and  as  it  came  to  my 
fortune,  by  some  successful  steps,  to  be  raised  in  the  competitions  of 
the  Bar,  I  then  met  him  first  as  an  antagonist,  afterwards  as  an  asso- 
ciate in  causes.  With  all  his  general  professional  record  (and  the 
memory  of  all  of  us  would  probably  assign  to  him  as  his  principal 
service  at  the  Bar — as  the  most  conspicuous  departments  of  the 
profession  in  which  he  showed  himself — that  of  an  equity  lawyer  or 
of  an  advocate  for  questions  at  Bar,  yet,)  we  all  know  that,  in  almost 
all  the  diversities  of  jury  trial  involving  the  vast  interests  of  this 
great  community,  he  bore  an  elevated  and  almost,  perhaps,  an  equally 
distinguished  part  as  in  the  preparation  and  argument  of  equity  causes  ; 
and  I  think  that  every  one  agrees  that,  whether  observed  with  no  in- 
terest in  the  case,  or  on  either  side  in  the  contest — whether  connected 
with  him  or  against  him — there  never  was  a  case,  of  all  these  diverse 
characters,  into  which  he  did  not  bring  great  service,  and  in  which  he 
did  not  gain  even  additional  credit  to  that  which  he  had  enjoyed 
before. 

Now  it  has  been  said  and  truly  said,  Mr.  Noyes'  life  was  one  of  la- 
bor and  care  and  attention,  and  that  a  good  part  of  his  distinction 
and  successes  sprung  from  this;  and  Mr.  President,  in  our  profession, 
nay  in  all  the  useful  careers  of  life,  this  is  wholly  true.  God  has  given 
nothing  to  mortals  in  this  life,  of  much  value,  without  great  labor. 

Among  the  many  great  cases  in  which  Mr.  Noyes  was  employed, 
it  fell  to  my  fortune  to  be  concerned  in  three — once  as  his  associate 
throughout  the  long  police  law  litigation,  once  opposed  to  him  in  the 
New  Haven  railroad  case,  and  again  in  the  Rose  will  case.  I  do  not 
think  that  our  Bar  ever  presented  so  singular  a  scene  as  the  trial 
of  the  New  Haven  railroad  cases,  in  which,  speaking  almost 
literally,  Mr.  Noyes  was  on  one  side  and  all  the  rest  of  us  on  the 
other.  It  was  a  wonderful  trial  of  a  man's  resources  and  of  bis  tem- 
per, for,  when  any  one  of  us  was  exhausted  on  our  side,  there  was  al- 
ways a  fresh  hand  to  take  it  up  for  us  ;  but  he  was  the  constant  com- 
batter  of  all  of  us  in  succession,  and  stood — as  in  some  of  the  ancient 
conflicts  of  physical  force — like  Hercules  defending  a  bridge  with 
his  single  arm  against  a  host  of  adversaries.  In  the  Rose  will  case, 
he  brought  to  his  side  the  culmination  of  great  researches  and  valu- 
able ideas  that  he  had  collected  in  the  doctrine  of  charitable  uses.  Un- 
der our  statutory  and  constitutional  laws,  there  was  nothing  he  had  not 
considered,  and  nothing  that  he  did  not  know  that  was  practically  and 
substantially  valuable  in  the  doctrine  of  charitable  uses.  In  the  po- 
G 


50 

lice  litigations,  from  the  first  excitement  until  the  final  conclusion  of 
the  litigation  that  determined  the  title  of  the  policemen,  Mr.  Noyes 
was  constant  in  the  service  that  he  rendered  to  the  side  he  had 
espoused,  and  perhaps  omre  than  any  professional  association  which 
I  enjoyed  with  him,  I  got  the  opportunity  to  see  what  he  brought 
to  his  friends,  and  what  aid  or  help  he  could  give  to  or  receive  from 
his  associates 

In  all  relations  of  life  it  has  been  my  fortune  to  be  on  the  same 
side,  as  we  say,  with  Mr.  Noyes.  Though  he  was  not  a  native  of 
New  England,  yet  he  valued  the  privileges  of  membership  with  the 
New  England  society,  which  was  confined,  by  its  rules,  to  the  son  of 
a  New  England  parent.  He  early  sought  that  association,  he  faith- 
fully adhered  to  it,  and  there  was  one  admirable  trait  of  Mr.  Noyes' 
character,  which  perhaps  but  few  knew  of,  and  I  should  not  have 
known  still,  but  for  my  observing  him  in  the  counsels  of  that  society, 
but  which  there  attracted  my  attention.  For  a  good  while  it  had 
been  desired  that  he  should  take  the  presidency  of  the  society,  but 
he  had  declined,  upon  his  own  suggestion  that  he  thought  it  better 
that  a  native  of  New  England  should  be  at  its  head — though  he  con- 
tinued in  a  post  of  service  in  the  society,  which  he  maintained  dur- 
ing the  whole  period,  I  believe,  of  my  connection  with  the  office  of 
that  society,  and  that  was  the  post  upon  its  Charity  Committee. 

He  exercised  steadily  and  faithfully,  amid  all  the  labors  of  his  pro- 
fession, the  constant,  sometimes  tedious,  sometimes  annoying  super- 
vision of  almoners  of  that  charity.  And  always,  at  all  the  confer- 
ences connected  with  the  business  of  that  society,  his  cheerful  inter- 
est, his  constant  perseverance  in  this  department  of  duty,  was  con- 
spicuous and  admirable. 

I  may  be  permitted  to  say  that  there  was  something  touching  in 
his  relations  to  the  society,  connected  with  his  life  and  his  death. 
He,  as  I  have  said,  declined  the  presidency  of  the  society,  and  it 
happened  that  the  great  misfortune  of  his  life — the  death  of  his  son* 
— occurred  some  years  ago,  upon  the  anniversary  of  the  society — 
the  22d  of  December.  We  were  constantly  desirous  that  he  should 
attend  our  meetings  and  participate  in  its  enjoyment,  and  give  the 
grace  and  honor  of  his  presence  and  his  speech  to  the  occasion. 
But  he  had,  without  any  obtrusion  of  his  grief,  steadily  declined, 
saying  that  that  day   was  not  a  day  of  joy  for  him.      It  was  with 

*  A  daughter. 


51 

great  satisfaction  that  I  heard  on  the  day  before  the  last  anniversary, 
that  he  had  consented  to  assume  its  presidency,  and  that  he  was 
willing  to  be  present  at  its  feast.  I  heard — for  I  was  not  present — 
that  on  that  occasion  he  made  a  speech  so  animated,  so  eloquent,  so 
altogether  admirable  as  to  attract  the  attention  of  every  hearer,  as 
showing  that  he  had  the  full  force  of  his  mind,  of  his  genius,  and  of 
his  affections ;  and  the  next  morning,  scarcely  eight  hours  after,  he  lay 
with  eye  wholly  dim  and  his  natural  force  wholly  abated  ;  his  right 
hand  had  forgotten  its  cunning,  and  his  tongue  had  cleaved  to  the 
roof  of  his  mouth. 

Mr.  President,  it  is  said  that  in  our  lives  we  do  not  pay  the  just 
measure  of  regard  and  esteem  and  attention  to  one  another  that 
would  be  right  and  proper ;  that  we  do  not  accord  what  is  ever  due 
one  to  another,  until 

"  The  sacred  dust  of  death  is  shed 
Upon  each  dear  and  reverend  head, 
Nor  love  the  living  as  we  love  the  dead." 

This  is  true ;  and  sometimes  it  is  added  that  there  is  something  of 
flattery,  or  at  least  of  exaggeration  in  these  our  views  of  the  dead. 

I  am  not  sure  of  this,  Mr.  President,  I  am  not  sure  that  the  cross- 
lights  and  the  varying  shadows  give  us  so  just  an  estimate  of  one 
another  as  the  severer  and  serene  twilight,  after  the  sun  has  set  and 
before  the  night  of  oblivion  has  swallowed  us  up. 

I  believe  there  is  more  truth,  as  there  is  more  affection,  in  these 
views  and  feelings  that  we  express  and  experience  for  the  dead. 


At  the  opening  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  on  the  10th  of  January, 
1865,  Hon.  B.  W.  Bonney  read  the  proceedings  of  the  meeting  of 
the  Bar  in  New  York.  Hon.  George  F.  Comstock  then  addressed 
the  Court,  and  Chief  Justice  Denio  responded. 

JUDGE  COMSTOCK'S  ADDRESS. 

May  it  please  the  Court  :  I  take  a  pleasure,  mingled  with  the  sad- 
ness due  to  the  occasion,  in  rising  to  second  the  motion  which  has 
been  made,  that  the  proceedings  of  the  New  York  Bar  be  entered  on 
the  minutes  of  this  Court. 


52 

Our  deceased  friend  and  brother  was  one  of  the  most  honored 
practitioners  at  this  Bar. 

It  is  here  that  the  highest  and  best  efforts  of  his  professional  life 
were  put  forth.  It  is  here  that  his  most  valuable  triumphs  were 
achieved,  and  it  is  here  that  his  ripe  learning,  his  varied  accomplish- 
ments as  an  advocate,  not  less  than  his  excellence  and  worth  as  a 
private  citizen  and  christian  gentleman,  should  receive  the  commemo- 
ration which  they  so  well  deserve. 

Among  the  recollections  of  his  2^'ofessional  career,  which  press  upon 
me  at  this  moment,  there  is  one  which  is  'peculiarly  suitable  to  be 
mentioned  here.  Probably  the  most  difficult  and  important  legal 
controversy  in  which  he  was  ever  engaged,  was  the  celebrated  "  mil- 
lion and  half  million  trust"  cases.  Indeed,  a  controversy  more  im- 
portant in  the  stake  involved  and  the  principles  concerned  has  rarely 
arisen  in  this  country.  Mr.  Noycs,  I  think,  was  in  charge  of  the 
cases  from  their  origin.  After  being  litigated  for  many  years  in  the 
subordinate  Courts,  they  were  brought  to  this  Court  for  final  adjudi- 
cation, now  precisely  eight  years  ago,  and  occupied  its  exclusive  at- 
tention for  nearly  thirty  days.  It  happened  to  me,  in  another  situa- 
tion, to  be  present  and  to  listen  to  that  discussion,  and  I  remember  it 
as  the  highest  intellectual  satisfaction  which  I  ever  enjoyed.  Those 
of  your  honors  then  on  the  bench,  I  think,  will  agree  with  me  that 
this  hall  never  witnessed  an  equal  display  of  forensic  power.  On  one 
side  were  the  consummate  learning,  the  massive  logic,  and  the  keen  dis- 
crimination of  the  ex-jurists  Bronson  and  Bcardsley — men  who  had 
adorned  the  bench  of  this  State.  "With  them  was  Nicholas  Hill, 
whose  powers  of  argument  were  rarely,  if  ever,  overmatched. 

Opposed  to  these  great  antagonists  were  O'Conor,  Butler  and 
Kent.  With  them  was  our  distinguished  friend,  whose  sudden  de- 
parture from  the  scene  of  his  earthly  labors  and  triumphs  we  now 
deplore.  Of  him  it  is  but  the  simple  truth  to  say  that  he  was,  if 
not  primus  inter  pares ',  at  least  the  worthy  and  equal  associate  antag- 
onist of  the  eminent  men  whom  I  have  named. 

How  fleeting  and  transitory  are  earthly  excellence  and  greatness ! 
Of  all  that  noble  array  of  talent  and  learning,  only  one  survives — the 
rest  have  gone  to  their  dust.  They  have  sunk  to  that  slumber  which 
will  know  no  waking  until  the  morning  of  the  resurrection,  when 
they  and  all  of  us  shall  be  summoned  by  the  trumpet  of  the  arch- 
angel to  a  higher  Bar,  where  perfect  justice,  let  us  hope,  will  be 
blended  with  mercy  through  the  Redeemer  of  mankind. 


53 

I  have  known  Mr.  Noycs  during  nearly  the  whole  of  my  profes- 
sional life. 

He  had  the  discriminating  mind,  the  patient  industry  and  untiring 
devotion  to  the  interests  committed  to  his  charge,  which  are  better 
than  the  highest  gift  of  mere  genius.  With  those  qualities  he  rose 
to  the  first  rank,  and  practiced  in  the  highest  walks  of  his  profession, 
and  has  left  behind  him  a  bright  example  as  worthy  of  emulation,  and 
it  is  encouraging  to  all  those  who  commence  the  struggle  for  honor- 
able fame. 

Although  I  knew  him  long  and  well,  others,  doubtless,  enjoyed 
more  intimate  relations  with  him.  During  the  last  three  years  of 
his  life  we  were  associated  in  causes  of  difficulty  and  importance, 
and  no  one  can  be  more  impressed  than  I  am  with  the  loss  which  our 
profession  and  society  have  sustained  by  his  death.  His  eminence 
as  a  severe  and  able  lawyer  was  softened  by  the  uniform  courtesy 
and  amenity  of  his  manner,  and  illuminated  by  the  radiance  of  his 
private  and  domestic  virtues. 

Viewing,  as  we  did,  from  different  stand  points,  the  great  social 
and  political  questions  which  agitate  the  public  mind  in  (his  country, 
and  arc  even  shaking  our  pillars  of  government  and  society,  I  cheer- 
fully accorded  to  him  all  the  sincerity  and  earnestness  of  intelligent 
conviction.  Ho  himself  was  far  too  cultivated,  too  wise  and  just  to 
be  intolerant  toward  the  like  convictions  of  other  men.  It  is  amono- 
the  highest  satisfactions  permitted  to  me  to  believe  that  I  enjoyed  his 
friendship  as  I  gave  to  him  unrestrainedly  my  own. 

REMARKS   BY   CHIEF  JUSTICE   DENIO. 

When  the  Judges  who  sat  on  the  bench  of  this  Court  last  year 
met  in  consultation  last  month,  and  heard  of  the  sudden  death  of 
Mr.  Noyes,  they  felt  not  only  that  one  of  the  great  lights  of  the  law 
had  been  extinguished,  but  that  each  one  of  them  had  lost  a  personal 
friend.  I  am  authorized  to  say  that  those  who  took  their  seats  here 
at  the  commencement  of  the  present  year,  fully  sympathize  in  the 
sorrow  universally  felt  for  our  great  loss.  For  myself,  the  blow  was 
peculiarly  afflicting. 

I  had  known  Mr.  Noyes  longer  than  any  member  of  the  Bar  or  the 
Bench,  and  had  known  him  intimately  and  well.  More  than  forty  years 
ago  we  were  successively  students  with  Henry  R.  Storrs,  a  person 


54 

of  great  genius  and  one  of  the  most  brilliant  lawyers  of  his  time, 
but  whose  name,  alas,  (such  is  the  transitory  value  of  professional 
renown,)  is  almost  effaced  from  the  memory  of  the  younger  members 
of  the  Bar.  As  I  left  Mr.  Storrs'  office,  on  my  admission  to  the  Bar, 
Mr.  Noyes  succeeded  me,  and  my  first  professional  partner,  on  his 
admission  to  the  Bar,  became  his.  When  I  moved  to  Utica,  he  also 
came  there  and  practiced  law  for  some  time  in  that  city,  and  then, 
twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago,  he  left  Utica  for  the  city  of  New 
York. 

It  is  most  gratifying  to  be  able  to  say  that  during  that  long  period 
of  time  our  relations  have  been  intimate  and  confidential,  and  that 
no  single  shade  of  difference,  or  even  coldness,  has  ever  intervened. 
The  loss,  therefore,  was  a  peculiarly  afflictive  one  to  me,  and  it  is  deeply 
lamented,  both  upon  personal  and  public  grounds. 

When  a  great  man  is  taken  away  from  us,  we  are  apt  to  inquire  as 
to  the  predominating  characteristics  of  his  mind.  Of  Mr.  Noyes  it 
may  be  said  that,  although  gifted  with  talents  of  a  very  high  order, 
he  had  none  of  the  irregularities  and  eccentricities  of  genius.  There 
was  a  remarkable  harmony  in  his  intellectual  powers,  and  in  his  habits 
of  thought  and  conduct. 

His  intellectual  efforts  were  not  fitful  and  intermittent,  but  steady 
and  persistent,  and  he  gave  to  every  thing  its  proper  place — profes- 
sional efforts,  domestic  duties,  attention  to  his  friends  and  devotion 
to  his  duties  as  a  citizen — none  were  in  excess ;  all  were  illustrative 
of  the  remarkable  harmony  of  his  life  and  character,  and  showed 
that  if  he  did  not  possess  an  exalted  imagination,  or  the  qualities 
which  are  supposed  to  define  a  man  of  genius,  he  yet  possessed,  in 
great  perfection,  those  perhaps  more  useful  qualities  which  lead  to 
eminence  in  a  learned  profession. 

He  had  a  remarkably  tenacious  memory.  Probably  he  never  read 
a  case  or  examined  a  subject  without  retaining  such  a  recollection  of 
it  as  would  enable  him  to  call  up  and  apply  it  when  he  subsequently 
had  occasion  for  its  use.  But  without  going  further,  I  need  but  say, 
that  born  and  breed  in  the  country,  he  went  to  the  metropolis  with- 
out family  connections,  or  any  adventitious  aid,  he  successfully 
encountered  the  immense  competition  which  he  necessarily  met,  and 
very  soon  took  his  place  in  the  front  rank  of  the  profession. 

In  our  profession  eminence  is  the  result  of  labor  and  ability,  and 
is  not  attained  by  accident  or  the  caprice  of  fortune.     It  is  enough  to 


55 

say  of  him  that  in  a  strange  city  he  reached  an  eminence  and 
achieved  a  renown  which  few  had  attained. 

The  only  remark  which  could  be  made  of  Mr.  Noyes,  which  was 
not  altogether  laudatory,  was,  that  he  persisted  in  his  arduous  labors 
to  the  detriment  of  his  health ;  and  it  was  a  matter  of  concern  to 
his  friends,  that  having  acquired  a  large  competency  as  the  reward  of 
his  professional  life,  and  as  great  a  measure  of  fame  as  falls  to  the  lot 
of  the  most  favored,  he  should  not  have  taken  the  repose  to  which 
he  was  so  justly  entitled.  He  probably  felt  the  noble  sentiment  of 
Sir  Francis  Bacon,  "  that  the  duties  of  life  are  more  than  life,"  and  so 
he  labored  on,  not  feeling  authorized  to  abandon  the  work  cast  upon 
him  by  the  solicitude  of  his  clients ;  and  it  is  enough  to  say  he  con- 
scientiously pursued  the  cause  of  duty  and  usefulness  until  it  pleased 
God  to  call  him  from  us. 

In  a  time  like  this,  we  dwell  with  peculiar  satisfaction  upon  his 
Christian  character,  which  was  exemplary  in  the  highest  degree.  In 
the  midst  of  his  most  active  life  he  never  forgot  his  dependence  upon 
the  great  Author  of  his  being.  He  has  left  not  only  a  great  name  in 
his  cherished  profession,  but  what  is  better,  the  repute  of  an  honest 
and  a  conscientious  Christian  man. 


REMARKS  AT  THE    FUNERAL  OF  WM.  CURTISS  NOYES, 
DEC.  28,  1863,  BY  REV.  DR.  PRENTICE. 

I  have  spoken  of  Mr.  Noyes  as  a  lawyer.  But  he  was  more  than 
a  great  lawyer  He  was  a  patriot,  a  philanthropist,  and  a  Christian. 
It  has  been  my  privilege  to  know  but  few  men,  who  seemed  to  me 
so  well  entitled  to  bear  these  honored  names,  love  to  his  country,  love 
to  his  race,  and  ardent  love  to  his  God  and  Saviour — these  three 
were  wrought  into  the  whole  substance  of  his  character,  and  formed 
the  ruling  motives  of  his  life.  Did  the  occasion  permit,  I  could 
detain  you  with  illustrations  of  these  traits  until  the  shadows  of  night 
had  gathered  around  us. 

Although  no  mere  politician,  and  looking  with  abhorrence  upon 
the  corrupt  ways  of  party,  Mr.  Noyes  was  a  man  of  very  deep  and 
earnest  political  convictions.  He  cherished  a  strong  faith  in  the  just 
and  beneficent  principles  that  lie  at  the  foundation  of  our  Free  Insti- 
tutions. His  mind  was  thoroughly  imbued  with  American  ideas# 
Some    thought    that   he  leaned   too    much    towards    liberty    and 


56 

progress  ;  that  lie  was  too  radical,  or  at  least  somewhat  visionary  iri 
his  views,  and  did  not  sufficiently  consider  the  claims  of  the  past, 
but  the  number  of  those  who  now  think  so  is,  probably,  very  small 
compared  with  the  number  of  those  who  thought  so  four  years  ago. 
The  course  of  events  has  a  logic  vastly  stronger  and  more  convincing 
than  that  of  any  man  or  party.  On  several  of  the  most  disputed 
and  vital  points  his  opinions,  once  so  little  accepted,  now  express  the 
general  and  dominant  sentiment  of  the  nation.  Those,  however, 
who  most  differed  with  him,  could  not  but  admire  his  absolute  sin- 
cerity and  his  pure,  unselfish  patriotism.  Among  the  first  to  discern 
the  approach  of  the  great  civil  storm  that  is  still  beating  upon  us,  he 
was  among  the  first  and  foremost  in  preparing  the  public  mind  to 
meet  it  in  the  right  way.  His  faith  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the 
national  cause,  and  in  the  sublime  destiny  of  the  Republic,  never 
faltered.  In  the  darkest  hours  he  was  hopeful  and  of  good  cheer, 
believing  that  God  had  set  apart  this  land  to  be  the  hospitable  home 
and  the  sanctuary  of  political  justice  and  universal  freedom,  he  also 
believed  that  nothing  could  thwart  that  Providential  design  ;  yet  few 
men,  probably,  suffered  more  intensely  on  account  of  the  perils  and 
distress  of  the  country  than  he  did.  His  whole  mind  and  heart  were 
absorbed  in  the  struggle;  and  some  of  his  friends  think  that  it 
shortened  his  life  by  years.  "When  told  during  the  recent  political 
canvass,  that  he  was  exerting  himself  beyond  his  strength,  he  promptly 
replied :  "  It  is  the  path  of  duty  and  if  I  fall,  it  will  be  in  the  service 
of  my  country.  I  could  not  die  in  a  better  cause."  Though  not 
permitted  to  see  the  end  of  the  momentous  conflict,  he  saw  what 
(as  he  told  me  last  week),  seemed  to  him  the  unmistakable  "  begin- 
ning of  the  end."  The  sight  filled  him  with  grateful  joy,  and  he 
died  in  full  prospect  of  good  things  to  come. 

Mr.  Noyes  was  a  philanthropist  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word.  His 
generous  sympathies,  like  the  prayers  of  the  church,  embraced  all 
sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  His  profession  had  shown  him  the 
dark  side  of  human  nature ;  and  he  was  sometimes  appalled  and 
almost  driven  to  despair  by  the  sight ;  but  his  religious  faith  soon 
restored  him  to  that  hopeful  and  benevolent  temper  which  wras  one 
of  his  most  striking  characteristics.  The  great  and  sacred  cause  of 
humanity,  whether  at  home  or  abroad,  always  found  in  him  a  whole- 
souled  advocate.  He  ranged  himself  with  all  his  heart  and  mind 
and  strength  under  the  banner  of  advancing  christian  civilization. 
The  strange  and  tragic   fortunes  of  the  African  race  interested  him 


57 

most  deeply,  and  he  avowed  himself  a  friend  of  the  slave  when  it 
was  a  very  unpopular  thing  to  do  so.  He  was  not  afraid,  or  ashamed, 
to  stand  up  for  any  man  or  class  of  men,  whose  claims  appealed  to 
his  sense  of  justice,  and  his  practice  was  in  perfect  keeping  with  his 
theory.  There  was  no  end  to  his  Christian  kindness  and  charities  ; 
they  flowed  from  him  free  as  the  elements,  though  largely  through 
channels  and  upon  objects  hidden  from  the  public  eye.  He  took 
pains  not  to  let  his  left  hand  know  what  his  right  hand  was  doing. 
For  a  number  of  years  he  had  alone  supported  a  Home  Missionary  ; 
yet  to  the  day  of  his  death  only  two  or  three  persons  were  aware  of 
it.  But  one  eye,  save  his  own,  saw  the  number  and  extent  of  his 
benefactions.  How  many  widows  and  orphans,  how  many  poor  and 
unfortunate  persons,  how  many  to  whom  he  once  extended  a  helping 
hand  and  spoke  words  of  sympathy  and  hope,  will  mourn  his  loss 
and  long  bless  his  memory  !  He  took  a  warm  personal  interest  in 
the  objects  of  his  kindness,  and  loved  to  make  personal  efforts  in  their 
behalf.  His  very  last  engagement,  I  am  informed,  was  with  an  indi- 
gent little  boy  for  whom  he  desired  to  obtain  a  situation.  If  the  thought 
of  a  good  deed,  as  George  Herbert  says,  makes  music  in  the  soul  at 
midnight,  our  departed  Brother  must  have  passed  many  happy  mid- 
night hours  !  To  his  own  family  and  kindred  and  household  friends, 
he  was  like  a  prince  in  the  midst  of  the  favorites  of  his  court.  He 
delighted  to  lavish  upon  them  incessant  and  enduring  tokens  of  the 
munificence  of  his  love.  Were  it,  indeed,  fitting  to  lift  the  vail  of 
that  domestic  life,  in  the  bosom  of  which  he  was  so  happy,  and  to 
reveal  him  in  the  varied  relations  of  son,  husband,  father,  brother  and 
friend,  you  would  behold  in  this  hard-working,  sedate  and  thoughtful 
man  a  rare  picture  of  tender  and  playful  emotion,  of  gentle  courtesy 
and  loving-kindness,  and  of  the  manliest  affection. 

It  is  not  needful  that  I  should  speak  here  of  his  connection  with 
our  public  institutions,  whether  of  learning,  charity  and  philanthropy, 
or  of  christian  evangelism  ;  nor  of  the  services  he  rendered  them. 
That  will  be  better  done  elsewhere. 

If  what  I  have  said  be  true,  we  have  been  contemplating  a  character 
of  rare  excellence.  But  its  crowning  virtue — that  which  gave  it  its 
peculiar  ^strength  and  beauty — was  something  divine  and  above  the 
reach  of  nature  ;  something  born  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the 
flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God.  Mr.  Noyes  was  a  sincere 
and  devoted  desciple  of  Jesus.  He  entered  early  into  the  fellowship 
of  the  Christian  Church — and  from  that  day  to  the  day  of  his  death 
G 


58 

remained  steadfast  in  the  faith  of  the  Gospel.  Feeling  himself  to  be 
a  poor,  lost  sinner,  he  rested  his  hope  of  eternal  life  wholly  and  alone 
upon  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified.  Like  other  religious  men  of 
his  profession  whom  I  have  had  the  privilege  of  knowing — men  gifted 
like  him  with  a  vigorous  intellect  and  of  large  observation  and  experi- 
ence of  life — he  possessed  the  humility  and  artless  faith  of  a  little  child. 
It  was  a  delight  to  preach  to  him,  he  was  such  a  friendly,  patient,  and 
devout  listener.  His  love  to  the  Bible  and  to  all  the  great  ordinances 
of  religion  was  after  the  type  of  that  of  the  old  saints ;  so,  too,  was 
his  confidence  in  the  great  Catholic  doctrines  of  religion.  The  scep- 
tical objections  and  tendencies  of  modern  thought  appeared  to  give 
him  but  little,  if  any,  trouble  of  mind.  He  was  eminently  a  man  of 
faith.  The  very  word,  especially  in  its  latin  form,  was  exceedingly 
dear  to  him.  He  inscribed  it  upon  the  most  precious  symbol  of  his 
love.  Fide — "  by  faith  we  stand," — that  was  his  motto.  He  endured 
as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible  ;  and  he  did  so  by  keeping  up  personal 
communion  with  his  God  and  Saviour  through  prayer.  Of  late, 
especially,  his  devotions  were  touchingly  tender,  humble  and  child- 
like. A  few  mornings  before  his  death  he  prayed,  with  singular 
pathos,  that  he  might  be  kept  that  day  from  everything  selfish,  harsh, 
or  unkind  ;  and  at  evening  he  returned  home  with  a  sweet  smile  of  con- 
tent upon  his  face,  that  seemed  to  say  his  prayer  had  been  answered. 
For  months  past  there  have  been  indications  that  he  had  a  presenti- 
ment of  what  was  coming.  Passages  in  his  domestic  correspondence, 
passages  of  favorite  poems  which  he  marked  or  desired  to  have  read 
to  him,  casual  remarks,  counsels  and  wishes  as  to  what  should  be 
done  after  he  was  gone,  business  arrangements,  all  show  that  lie 
thought  his  time  was  short,  and  that  at  any  moment  the  Son  of  Man 
might  come.  It  seemed  to  be  his  constant  endeavor  to  be  ready 
when  the  hour  should  strike.  As  I  look  back  I  can  see  it  in  his  rev- 
erential demeanor  and  whole  aspect  in  the  house  of  God ;  never 
more  plainly  than  last  Tuesday  evening  while  speaking  on  the  words  : 
"  Our  Father  who  art  in  Heaven."  As  his  family  look  back  they  can 
see  it  in  many  things.  And  when  the  shadow,  of  the  great  event  fell 
upon  him  on  last  Friday  morning,  he  was  ready  to  meet  it.  He  had 
nothing  to  do  but  to  wait  until  the  Sabbath  came — the  day  commemo- 
rative at  once  of  his  Lord's  Advent  and  Resurrection — and  then, 
conducted  by  the  strong  hand  of  that  adored  Friend  and  Saviour,  to 
pass  quickly  through  the  gate  of  death  into  the  rest  that  rem aineth  for 
the  people  of  God.  "  Mark  the  perfect  man  and  behold  the  upright ; 
for  the  end  of  that  man  is  peace." 


59 

Mr.  Noyes  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Church  of  the  Covenant, 
and  will  be  held  by  it  in  grateful  and  lasting  remembrance.  In  the 
movements  which  led  to  its  formation  and  to  the  erection  of  its  beau- 
tiful edifice,  his  counsel,  sympathy  and  generous  aid  were  invaluable. 
He  was  one  of  our  chief  pillars  of  strength.  In  the  darkest  hours 
of  1861  '2,  when  it  seemed  to  many  as  if  the  undertaking  must  be 
abandoned,  he  was  in  favor  of  at  once  going  forward  and  beginning  to 
build.  I  shall  never  lose  the  impression  of  his  manly  and  cheering 
words.  At  the  organization  of  the  Church,  he  was  urged  to  be  one 
of  its  Ruling  Elders  ;  and  I  understand  he  had  been  urged  to  accept 
the  same  office  in  the  University  Place  Church,  (the  Rev.  Dr.  Potts,) 
of  which  he  was  long  an  honored  member.  But  he  declined  in  a 
manner  and  for  reasons  which  did  honor  to  his  high  Christian  senti- 
ments. He  took  great  interest  in  the  Sunday  School,  having  been 
himself  for  many  years  both  a  teacher  and  Superintendent.  He  was 
regular  in  his  attendance  at  the  weekly  lecture,  and  I  never  saw  a 
more  devout  listener.  He  was,  indeed,  in  his  whole  make  and  temper, 
homo  gravis — a  thoughtful,  weighty  and  earnest  Christian  man.  I 
shall  always  esteem  it  a  great  privilege  to  have  been  his  pastor  and  to 
have  enjoyed  his  friendship. 


■''■*     ui      IMC 

>C       I  1929 

ILLINOIS 


